AWMrt  Asunder 


;•: 

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i(i:,i.i'.<:-. 


Gertrude  Atherton 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


A    WHIRL   ASUNDER. 


A   Whirl   Asunder 


By    GERTRUDE    ATHERTON 

Author  of  "  SENATOR  NORTH,"  "  THE  CONQUEROR," 
"  PATIENCE  SPARHAWK,"  ETC. 


by 

GEORGE    WILLIS   BARDWELL 

AND 

E.  FREDERICK 


NEW    YORK 

'  mp  a  ny  .PUBLISHERS 


COPYRIGHT,  1895,  BY 
FREDERICK   A.    STOKES  COMPANY. 

All  rights  reserved. 


A  WHIRL  ASUNDER. 


CHAPTER  I. 

AS  the  train  stopped  for  the  sixth  time, 
Clive  descended  abruptly. 

"  I  think  I'll  walk  the  rest  of  the 
way,"  he  said  to  the  conductor.  "  Just  look 
after  my  portmanteau,  will  you  ?  and  see  that 
it  is  left  at  Yorba  with  my  boxes." 

"  O.  K.,"  said  the  man.  "  But  you  must 
like  walking." 

Clive  had  spent  seven  days  on  the  ocean, 
three  in  the  furious  energy  of  New  York,  and 
six  on  a  transcontinental  train,  whose  dis 
comforts  made  him  wonder  if  he  had  a  moral 
right  to  enter  the  embarrassing  state  of 
matrimony  with  a  temper  hopelessly  soured. 
As  he  had  come  to  California  to  marry,  and 


2200500 


4        A   WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

as  his  betrothed  was  at  a  hotel  in  the 
northern  redwoods,  he  did  not  pause  for 
rest  in  San  Francisco.  He  left,  two  hours 
after  his  arrival,  on  a  narrow  gauge  train, 
which  dashed  down  precipitous  mountain 
slopes  ;  shot  rocking  from  side  to  side,  about 
curves  on  a  road  so  narrow  that  the  brush 
scraped  the  windows,  or  the  eye  looked  down 
into  the  blackness  of  a  cafton,  five  hundred 
feet  below ;  raced  shrieking  across  trestles 
which  seemed  to  swing  midway  between 
heaven  and  earth  ;  only  to  slacken,  with 
protesting  snort  and  jerk,  when  climbing  to 
some  dizzier  height.  Clive  had  stood  for 
an  hour  on  the  platform,  fascinated  by  the 
danger,  and  the  bleak  solemnity  of  the  for 
ests,  whose  rigid  trunks,  and  short,  stiffly 
pointed  arms  looked  as  if  they  had  not  quiv 
ered  since  time  began.  But  he  felt  that  he  had 
had  enough,  moreover  that  he  had  not  drawn 
an  uncompanioned  breath  since  he  left  Eng 
land.  If  he  was  not  possessed  by  the  grace- 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.         5 

ful  impatience  of  the  lover,  he  reminded 
himself  that  he  was  tired  and  nervous,  and 
had  been  obliged  to  go  dirty  for  six  days, 
enough  to  knock  the  romance  out  of  any 
man  ;  the  ubiquitous  human  animal  had 
talked  incessantly  for  sixteen  days,  and  his 
legs  ached  for  want  of  stretching. 

A  twisted  old  man  with  a  sharp  eye,  a 
rusty  beard  depending  aimlessly  from  a  thin 
tobacco-stained  mouth,  limped  across  the 
platform,  rolling  a  flag.  Clive  asked  him  if 
he  could  get  to  the  Yorba  hotel  on  foot. 

The  man  stared.  "  Well,  you  be  an  Eng 
lishman,  /guess,"  he  remarked. 

"Yes,  I  am  an  Englishman,"  said  Clive 
haughtily. 

"  Oh,  no  offence,  but  the  way  you  Eng 
lish  do  walk,  beats  us.  We  ain't  none  too 
fond  of  walkin'  in  Californy.  Too  many 
mountains,  I  guess.  Yes,  you  kin  walk  it, 
and  I  guess  you'll  have  to.  There  goes 
your  train.  Stranger  in  these  parts  ?  " 


6         A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

"  I  arrived  in  California  to-day." 

"  So.  Coin'  to  raise  cattle,  or  just  seem' 
the  wonders  of  the  Gold  State  ? " 

"  Will  you  kindly  point  out  the  way  ? 
And  I  should  like  to  send  a  despatch  to  the 
hotel,  if  possible." 

"  Oh,  suttenly.  We  don't  think  much  of 
English  manners  in  these  parts,  I  don't 
mind  sayin'.  You  English  act  as  if  you 
owned  God  Almighty  when  you  come  out 
here.  You  forget  we  licked  ye  twice. 
Come  after  a  Californy  heiress  ?  " 

Clive  felt  an  impulse  to  throw  the  man 
over  the  trestle,  then  laughed. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  he  said,  "  I  am 
sorry  my  manners  are  bad,  but  the  truth  is,  my 
head  is  tired  and  my  legs  are  not.  Come, 
show  me  the  way." 

Being  further  mollified  by  a  silver  dollar, 
the  old  man  replied  graciously,  "  All  right, 
sir.  Just  amuse  yourself  while  I  send  your 
telegram,  and  fetch  a  dark  lantern.  You'll 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.         7 

need  it.  The  moon's  doin'  well,  but  the 
tops  of  them  redwoods  knit  together,  and 
are  as  close  as  a  roof." 

Clive  walked  idly  about  the  little  waiting- 
room.  The  walls  were  decorated  with  illus 
trated  weekly  newspapers,  and  the  gratui 
tous  lithograph.  John  L.  Sullivan,  looking, 
under  the  softening  influence  of  the  weekly 
artist,  as  if  sculptured  from  mush,  glowered 
across  at  Corbett,  who  displayed  his  muscles 
in  a  dandified  attitude.  There  were  also 
several  lithographs  of  pretty,  rather  elegant- 
looking  girls.  Clive  noticed  that  one  had  a 
rude  frame  of  young  redwood  branches  about 
it,  and  occupied  the  post  of  honor  at  the  head 
of  the  room.  He  walked  over  and  examined 
it  as  well  as  he  could  by  the  light  of  the 
smoking  lamp. 

The  head  was  in  profile,  severe  in  outline, 
as  classic  as  the  modern  head  ever  is.  The 
chin  was  lifted  proudly,  the  nostrils  looked 
capable  of  expansion.  The  brow  and  eyes 


8         A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

suggested  intellect,  the  lower  part  of  the 
face  pride  and  self-will  and  passion,  perhaps 
undeveloped  cruelty  and  sensuality. 

"Who  is  Miss  Belmont  ? "  he  asked,  as 
the  station  agent  left  the  telegraph  table. 

"  Oh,  she's  one  of  the  heiresses.  That's 
our  high-toned  society  paper.  It's  printin' 
a  series  of  Californy  heiresses.  One  of  the 
other  papers  says  as  how  it's  a  good  guide 
book  for  impecoonious  furriners,  and  I 
guess  that's  about  the  size  of  it.  She's  got 
a  million,  and  nobody  but  an  aunt,  and  she 
has  her  own  way,  I  — tell — you.  She'll  be 
a  handful  to  manage ;  but  somehow,  al 
though  she  keeps  people  talkin',  they  don't 
believe  as  much  harm  of  her  as  of  some 
that's  more  quiet.  You'll  meet  her,  I  guess, 
if  you're  goin'  to  stay  at  Yorba,  for  she's 
got  a  big  house  in  the  redwoods  and  knows 
a  lot  of  the  hotel  folks  and  the  Bohemian  Club 
fellers.  I  like  her.  She  rides  this  way  once 
a  year  or  so,  and  we  have  a  good  chin  about 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.         9 

politics.  She  knows  a  thing  or  two,  you 
bet,  and  she  believes  in  Grover." 

"  How  old  is  she  ?  And  why  doesn't  she 
marry  ?  "  asked  Clive  idly,  as  they  walked 
up  the  road. 

"  She's  twenty-six,  and  she's  goin'  to 
marry — a  Noo  York  feller ;  one  of  them 
with  Dutch  names.  She's  had  offers,  /guess. 
Three  of  your  lords,  I  know  of.  But  lords 
don't  stand  much  show  with  Californy 
girls — them  as  was  raised  here,  anyhow. 
They  don't  give  a  damn  for  titles,  and  they 
scent  a  fortune-hunter  before  he's  off  the 
dock.  They've  put  their  heads  together 
and  talked  him  over  before's  he's  registered. 
This  Dutchman's  got  money,  so  I  guess  he's 
all  right.  Be  you  a  lord  ?  " 

"  I  am  not.  I  am  a  barrister,  and  the 
son  of  a  barrister." 

"What  may  that  be?" 

"  I  believe  you  call  it  lawyer  out  here." 

"  O — h — h — a  lawyer's  a  gay  bird,  ain't 


io       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

he?  And  don't  he  have  a  good  time  ?"  The 
old  man  chuckled. 

"  I  never  found  them  different  from  other 
men.  What  do  you  mean  ? " 

"  Ours  are  rippers.  I've  been  in  Cali- 
forny  since  '49,  and  I  could  spin  some  yarns 
that  would  make  your  hair  curl,  young  man. 
Lord,  Lord,  the  old  ones  were  tough.  The 
young  ones  ain't  quite  so  bad,  but  they're 
doing  their  best." 

"  California  is  rather  a  wild  place,  isn  t 
it." 

"It  was.  It's  quietin'  down  now,  and  it 
ain't  near  so  interestin'.  Jack  Belmont, 
that  there  young  lady's  father,  was  a  lawyer 
when  he  fust  come  here,  but  he  struck  it 
rich  in  Con.  Virginia,  in  '74,  and  after  that 
warn't  he  a  ripper.  Oh,  Lord  !  He  was  a 
terror.  But  he  done  his  duty  by  his  girl  ; 
had  her  eddicated  in  Paris  and  Noo  York, 
and  never  let  no  one  cross  her.  He  was  as 
fine  lookin'  a  man  as  I  ever  seen,  almost  as 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       n 

tall  and  clean  made  as  you  be,  and  awful 
open-handed  and  popular,  although  a 
terrible  enemy.  He's  shot  his  man  twice 
over,  they  say,  and  I  believe  it.  His  wife 
died  ten  years  before  him.  She  was  fond 
of  him,  too,  poor  thing,  and  he  made  no 
bones  about  bein'  unfaithful  to  her — they 
don't  out  here.  A  man's  no  good  if  you 
can't  tell  a  yarn  or  two  about  him.  Well, 
Jack  Belmont  died  five  years  ago,  and  left 
about  a  million  dollars  to  his  girl.  He'd 
had  a  long  sight  more,  but  she  was  lucky  to 
git  that.  They  say  as  how  she  was  awful 
broke  up  when  he  died." 

"  You're  a  regular  old  chronique  scanda- 
leuse"  said  Clive,  much  interested.  "  What 
sort  of  a  social  position  has  this  Miss  Bel 
mont  ?  Is  she  received  ?" 

"  Received  ?  Glory,  man — why  her  father 
was  a  southern  gent — Maryland,  as  I  remem 
ber,  and  her  mother  was  from  Boston. 
They  led  society  here  in  the  sixties ;  they're 


12       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

one  of  the  old  families  of  Californy.  That's 
the  reason  Miss  Belmont  does  as  she  damned 
pleases,  and  nobody  dares  say  boo — that 
and  the  million.  She's  ancient  aristocracy, 
she  is.  Received  !  Oh,  Lord  ! " 

Clive,  much  amused,  asked:  "What 
does  she  do  that  is  so  dreadful  ?  " 

"  Oh,  she's  been  engaged  fifteen  times  ; 
she  rides  about  the  country  in  boy's  clothes, 
and  sits  up  all  night  under  the  trees  at  Del 
Monte  talkin'  to  a  man,  or  gives  all  her 
dances  to  one  man  at  a  party,  and  then  cuts 
him  the  next  day  on  the  street ;  and  when 
she  gits  tired  of  people,  comes  up  here  with 
out  even  her  aunt.  She  used  to  run  to 
fires,  but  she  gave  that  up  some  years  ago. 
She  travels  about  the  country  for  weeks 
without  a  chaperon,  and  once  went  camp 
ing  alone  with  five  men.  Sometimes  she'll 
fill  her  house  up  with  men  for  a  week,  and 
not  have  no  other  woman,  savin'  her  aunt. 
Lately  she's  more  quiet,  they  say,  and  has 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       13 

become  a  terrible  reader.  Last  winter  she 
stayed  up  here  for  three  months  alone.  I 
hear  as  how  people  talked.  But  I  didn't 
see  nothin'.  She's  all  right,  or  my  name 
ain't  Jo  Bagly.  Well,  here  you  are,  sir. 
Good  luck  to  ye  !  Keep  to  the  road  and 
don't  strike  off  on  any  of  them  side  trails, 
and  you  can't  go  wrong.  Evenin'." 

Clive  went  into  the  dark  forest.  What 
the  old  man  had  told  him  of  Miss  Belmont 
had  quickened  his  imagination,  and  he  spec 
ulated  about  her  for  some  moments  ;  then 
his  thoughts  wandered  to  his  English  be 
trothed.  He  had  not  seen  her  for  two 
years.  Her  mother's  health  failing,  her 
father  had  taken  his  family  to  Southern  Cali 
fornia.  A  year  later  Mrs.  Gordon  had  died 
and  her  husband  having  bought  a  ranch  in 
which  he  was  much  interested,  had  written 
to  Clive  that  he  wanted  his  eldest  daughter 
for  another  year  ;  by  that  time  her  sister 
would  have  finished  school,  and  could  take 


14       A   WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

her  place  as  head  of  the  household.  Lately 
he  and  Mary  had  felt  the  debilitating  influ 
ence  of  the  southern  climate  and  had  gone 
to  the  redwoods  of  the  north.  There  Clive 
was  to  meet  them,  remain  a  few  weeks,  then 
marry  in  San  Francisco  and  take  his  wife 
back  to  England. 

Clive  was  thirty-four,  ten  years  older  than 
Mary  Gordon.  He  recalled  the  day  he  had 
proposed  to  her.  She  had  come  down  the 
steps  of  her  father's  house,  in  a  blue  gown 
and  garden  hat,  and  they  had  gone  for  a 
walk  in  the  woods.  She  was  not  a  clever 
woman,  and  she  had  only  the  white  and  pink 
and  brown,  the  rounded  lines  of  youth,  no 
positive  beauty  of  face  or  figure  ;  but  with 
the  blind  instinct  of  his  race  he  had  turned 
almost  automatically  to  the  type  of  woman 
who,  time  out  of  mind,  has  produced  the 
strong-limbed,  strong-brained  men  that  have 
made  a  nation  insolently  great.  She  reminded 
him  of  his  mother,  with  her  even  sweetness 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       15 

of  nature,  her  sympathy,  her  large  mater 
nal  suggestion.  He  had  known  her  since 
her  early  girlhood  and  grown  fonder  of  her 
each  year.  She  rested  him,  and  had  the  di 
vine  feminine  faculty  of  making  him  feel  a 
better  and  cleverer  man  than  he  was  in  the 
habit  of  thinking  himself  elsewhere. 

She  had  accepted  him  with  the  sweetest 
smile  he  had  ever  seen,  and  he  had  wondered 
if  other  men  were  as  fortunate.  For  two 
years  he  saw  much  of  her,  then  she  went  to 
America,  and  he  had  plunged  into  his  work 
and  his  man's  life,  not  missing  her  as  consis 
tently  as  he  had  expected,  but  caring  for 
her  none  the  less.  The  Saturday  mail 
brought  him,  unintermittingly,  a  letter 
eight  pages  long,  neatly  written,  and  describ 
ing  in  detail  the  daily  life  of  her  family,  and 
of  the  strange  people  about  them.  They 
were  calm,  affectionate,  interesting  letters, 
which  Clive  enjoyed  and  to  which  he  replied 
with  a  hurried  scrawl,  rarely  covering  more 


16       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

than  one  page.  An  Englishwoman  does 
not  expect  much,  but  Mary  occasionally 
hinted  sadly  that  a  longer  letter  would  make 
her  happier ;  whereupon  his  conscience  hurt 
him  and  he  wrote  her  two  pages. 

He  enjoyed  these  two  years,  despite  hard 
work  ;  he  was  popular  with  men  and  women, 
and  much  was  popular  with  him  that  adds 
to  the  keener  pleasures  of  life.  When  the 
time  came  to  pack  his  boxes  and  go  to 
America,  he  puffed  a  large  regretful  rack 
from  his  last  pipe  of  freedom  ;  but  it  did 
not  occur  to  him  to  ask  release.  For  the 
matter  of  that,  although  he  had  come  to  re 
gard  Mary  Gordon  as  the  inevitable  rather 
than  the  desired,  he  had  felt  for  her  the 
strong  tenderness  which  such  men  feel  for 
such  women,  which  endures,  and  never  in 
any  circumstances  turns  to  hate. 

After  a  time  Clive  extinguished  the  lan 
tern  :  it  illumined  the  road  fitfully,  but  ac 
centuated  the  dense  blackness  of  the  forest. 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       17 

The  undergrowth  was  too  thick  to  permit 
him.  to  stray  aside,  and  he  wanted  to  form 
some  idea  of  his  surroundings.  His  eyes 
ascustomed  themselves  to  the  dark.  Moon 
rays  splashed  or  trickled  here  and  there 
through  lofty  cleft  and  mesh.  Clive  paused 
once  and  looked  up.  The  straight  trees, 
sometimes  slender,  sometimes  huge,  were 
as  inflexible  as  granite,  an  unbroken  column 
for  a  hundred  feet  or  more  ;  then  thrust 
ing  out  rigid  arms  from  a  tapering  trunk 
into  another  hundred  feet  of  space.  The 
effect  was  that  of  a  dense  forest  suspended 
in  air,  supported  above  the  low  brush  forest 
on  a  vast  irregular  colonnade,  out  of  whose 
ruins  it  might  have  sprung.  Clive  had 
never  known  a  stillness  so  profound,  a  re 
pose  so  absolute.  But  it  was  not  the  peace 
ful  repose  of  an  English  wood.  It  suggested 
the  heavy  brooding  stillness  of  archaic  days, 
when  the  uneasy  world  drowsed  before  an 
other  convulsion,  There  was  some  other 


i8       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

influence  abroad  in  the  woods,  but  at  the 
time  its  meaning  eluded  him. 

Suddenly  it  occurred  to  him  that  he  could 
not  see  Mary  Gordon  in  this  forest.  There 
was  an  irritating  incongruity  in  the  very 
thought.  She  belonged  to  the  sweet  calm 
beech  woods,  of  England  ;  nothing  in  her 
was  in  consonance  with  the  storm  and  stress, 
the  passion  and  fatality  which  this  strange 
country  suggested.  Did  the  women  of  Cali 
fornia  fit  their  frame?  He  experienced  a 
strong  desire  for  the  companionship  of  a 
woman  who  would  interpret  this  forest  to 
him,  then  called  himself  an  ass  and  strode 
on. 

An  hour  later  he  became  aware  of  a  dis 
tant  and  deep  murmur.  It  was  crossed 
suddenly  by  a  wild,  hilarious  yell.  Clive 
relit  the  lantern  and  flashed  it  along  the 
brush  at  his  right.  Presently  he  came  upon 
a  narrow  trail.  The  prospect  of  adventure 
after  sixteen  days  of  civilized  monotony 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       19 

lured  him  aside,  and  he  walked  rapidly  down 
the  bypath.  In  a  few  moments  he  found 
himself  on  the  edge  of  a  large  clearing. 
The  moon  poured  in  without  let  and  re 
vealed  a  scene  of  singular  and  uncomfort 
able  suggestion. 

In  the  middle  of  the  space  was  a  huge 
funeral  pyre ;  beyond  it,  evidently  on  a  bier, 
Clive  could  see  the  stony,  upturned  feet  of 
a  mammoth  corpse,  lightly  covered  with  a 
white  pall.  Between  the  pyre  and  the  trees 
nearer  him,  a  large  caldron  swung  over  a 
heap  of  fagots,  which  were  beginning  to 
crackle  gently.  The  place  looked  as  if 
about  to  be  the  scene  of  some  awful  rite. 
Englishmen  are  willing  to  believe  anything 
about  California,  and  Clive,  who  had  com 
manded  the  admiration  of  his  father's  col 
leagues  with  his  clear,  quick,  logical  brain, 
leaped  at  once  to  the  conclusion  that  this 
part  of  California  was  still  the  hunting- 
ground  of  the  Red  Indian,  and  that  some 


20      A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

mighty  chief  was  about  to  be  cremated ; 
whilst  his  widow,  perchance,  sacrificed  her 
self  in  the  caldron. 

He  plunged  his  hands  into  his  pockets 
and  awaited  developments  with  the  nervous 
delight  of  a  schoolboy.  Although  the  for 
est  was  silent  again,  he  had  an  uneasy  sense 
of  many  human  beings  at  no  great  distance. 

He  had  not  long  to  wait.  There  was  a 
sudden  red  glare  which  made  the  aisles  of 
the  forest  seem  alive  with  dancing  shapes, 
hideously  contorted.  Simultaneously  there 
arose  a  low  soft  chanting,  monotonous  and 
musical,  bizarre  rather  than  weird.  Then 
out  of  the  recesses  on  the  far  side  of  the 
clearing,  startlingly  defined  under  the  blaze 
of  many  torches  held  aloft  in  the  background, 
emerged  a  high  priest,  his  crown  shaven,  his 
beard  flowing  to  his  waist,  his  white  robes 
marking  the  austerity  of  his  order.  His 
hands  were  folded  on  his  breast,  his  head 
bowed,  Behind  him,  two  and  two,  followed 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       21 

twenty  acolytes,  swinging  censers,  the  heavy 
perfume  of  the  incense  rising  to  the  pun 
gent  odor  of  the  redwoods,  blending  har 
moniously  :  the  lofty  forest  aisles  were 
become  those  of  some  vast  primeval  crypt. 

Then  illusion  was  in  a  measure  dispelled. 
The  two  hundred  torchbearers  who  came 
after  wore  the  ordinary  outing  clothes  of 
civilization. 

The  strange  procession  marched  slowly 
round  the  circle,  passing  perilously  close  to 
Clive.  Then  the  priest  and  acolytes  walked 
solemnly  up  to  the  caldron,  the  others  dis 
persing  themselves  irregularly,  leaping 
occasionally  and  waving  their  torches.  The 
fagots  were  blazing  ;  Clive  fancied  he  heard 
a  merry  bubbling.  A  moment  of  profound 
silence.  Then  the  priest  dropped  some 
thing  into  the  caldron,  chanting  an  invoca 
tion  of  which  Clive  could  make  nothing, 
although  he  was  a  scholar  in  several  lan 
guages.  The  acolytes  and  torchbearers 


22       A   WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

tossed  to  the  priest  entities  and  imaginations, 
which  he  dropped  with  much  ceremony  into 
the  caldron,  to  the  accompaniment  of  hollow, 
not  to  say  ribald  laughter,  and  jests  which 
had  a  strong  flavor  of  personalities. 

The  prologue  lasted  ten  minutes.  Then 
the  mummers  crowded  backward  and  faced 
the  pyre.  Again  the  heavy  silence  fell. 
The  priest  went  forward,  and  raising  his 
clasped  hands  and  set  face  to  the  moon, 
stood,  for  a  moment,  like  a  statue  on  a  mon 
ument,  then  turned  slowly  and  beckoned. 
The  acolytes  formed  in  line  and  marched 
with  solemn  precision  to  the  other  side  of 
the  pyre.  A  moment  later  they  reappeared, 
walking  with  halting  steps,  their  heads 
bowed,  chanting  dismally.  On  their  shoul 
ders  they  carried  a  long  bier,  on  which,  ap 
parently,  lay  the  corpse  of  a  dead  giant. 
The  priest  sprinkled  the  body,  then  turned 
away  with  a  gesture  of  loathing.  The  aco 
lytes  carried  it  by  the  torchbearers,  who 


'THERE    WAS    THE    HISS    OF    TAK,    TICK    LEAP    OF    ONE 
GREAT    FLAME." Ptlge    2J. 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       23 

spat  upon  and  execrated  it  ;  then  slowly  and 
laboriously  mounted  the  pyre,  and  dropping 
the  bier  on  its  apex,  scampered  indecorously 
down  with  savage  grunts  of  satisfaction, 
their  white  garments  fluttering  along  the 
dark  pile  like  a  wash  on  a  windy  day.  The 
corpse  lay  long  and  white  and  horrid  under 
the  beating  moon  and  the  flare  of  torch. 
As  the  acolytes  reached  the  ground  the  rest 
of  the  company  rushed  simultaneously  for 
ward,  and  with  a  hideous  yell  flung  their 
torches  at  the  pyre.  There  was  the  hiss  of 
tar,  the  leap  of  one  great  flame,  an  angry 
crackling.  A  moment  more  and  the  forest 
would  be  more  vividly  alight  than  it  had 
ever  been  at  noonday.  Clive,  feeling  as 
uncomfortable  as  an  eavesdropper,  but  too 
fascinated  to  retreat,  stepped  behind  a  large 
redwood.  With  his  eyes  still  fixed  on  the 
strange  scene  he  did  not  pick  his  steps,  and 
coming  suddenly  in  contact  with  a  pliable 
body,  he  nearly  knocked  it  over.  There 


24       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

was  a  smothered  shriek,  followed  by  a  sup 
pressed  but  forcible  vocative.  Clive  mechan 
ically  lifted  his  hat. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  he  said,  addressing 
a  tall  lad,  whose  face  was  partly  concealed 
by  the  visor  of  a  cap  ;  "  I  hope  I  have  not 
hurt  you." 

"  I  am  not  so  easily  hurt,"  said  the  lad 
haughtily. 

The  masculine  man  never  lived  who  did 
not  recognize  a  feminine  woman  in  whatever 
guise,  if  within  the  radius  of  her  magnetism. 
This  young  masquerader  interested  Clive  at 
once.  Her  voice  had  a  warm  huskiness. 
The  mouth  and  chin  were  classically  cut,  but 
very  human.  She  had  thrown  back  her  head 
and  revealed  a  round  beautiful  throat.  The 
loose  flannel  shirt  and  jacket  concealed  her 
figure,  but  even  the  slight  motions  she  had 
made  revealed  energy  and  grace. 

Clive  offered  her  a  cigarette.  She  accepted 
it  and  smoked  daintily,  withdrawing  as  much 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       25 

as  possible  into  the  shadow  and  shielding 
her  face  with  her  hand.  He  leaned  his  back 
against  the  tree  and  lit  a  cigar. 

"What  on  earth  is  the  meaning  of  this 
scene  ?  ".he  asked. 

"  That  is  the  great  Midsummer  Jinks  cere 
mony  of  the  Bohemian  Club.  They  have  it 
every  year,  and  never  invite  outsiders.  So 
I  was  bound, I'd  see  it,  anyhow." 

"  I  wonder  you  don't  become  a  member." 

"Oh,  I'm  too  young,"  promptly. 

"Tell  me  more  about  it.  What  do  these 
ceremonies  mean?" 

"  Oh,  they  put  all  sorts  of  things  into  that 
caldron — the  liver  of  a  grasshopper  with  one 
of  Harry  Armstrong's  jokes ;  the  wasted 
paint  on  somebody's  last  picture  with  the 
misshapen  feet  of  somebody's  else  latest 
verse.  The  corpse  is  an  effigy  of  Care,  and 
they  are  cremating  him.  Now  they'll  be 
happy,  that  is  to  say,  drunk,  till  morning,  for 
Care  is  dead.  I'm  going  to  stop  and  see  it 
out." 


26       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

"I  think  you  had  better  go  home." 
"  Indeed  ? "    Clive    saw    the    hand    that 
shielded  her  face  jerk. 

"  Did  you  ever  see,  or  rather  hear  a  lot  of 
men  on  a  lark  when  they  fancied  that  no 
women  were  about  ? " 

"  No  ;  but  that  is  what  I  wish  to  do." 
"  Which  you  are  not  going  to  do  to-night." 
There  was  a  sudden  snapping  of  dry  leaves. 
A  small  foot  had  come  down  with  empha 
sis. 

"  What  do  you  mean  ? " 
"  That  this  is  no  place  for  a  woman,  and 
that  you  must  go." 

"  I'm  not — well,  I  am,  and  I  don't  care  in 
the  least  whether  you  know  it  or  not.  I 
wish  you  to  understand,  sir,  that  I  shall 
stay  here,  and  that  I  am  not  in  the  habit 
of  being  dictated  to." 

"You  are  Miss  Belmont,  I  suppose." 
An    instant's   pause.     Then    she  replied, 
with  a  haughty  pluck  which  delighted  him  : 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       27 

"  Yes,  I  am  Miss  Belmont,  and  you  are  an 
insolent  Englishman." 

"  How  do  you  know  that  I  am  an  English 
man  ?  " 

"  Any  one  could  tell  from  your  voice  and 
your  overbearing  manner." 

"  Well,  I  am,"  said  Clive,  much  amused. 

"  I  detest  Englishmen." 

"  Smoke  a  little,  or  I  am  afraid  you  will  cry." 

She  obeyed  with  unexpected  docility,  but 
in  a  moment  crushed  the  coal  of  her  cigarette 
on  a  damp  tree  stump.  Then  she  turned  to 
him  and  folded  her  arms. 

"  I  am  not  going  to  leave,"  she  said  evenly. 
"  What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?" 

"  How  did  you  get  here?" 

"  On  my  horse." 

"  Where  is  he?" 

"Tethered  off  the  road." 

"  Very  well ;  if  you  are  not  on  that  horse 
in  five  minutes,  I  shall  carry  you  to  it,  and 
what  is  more,  I  shall  kiss  you." 


28       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

She  deliberately  moved  into  the  light  and 
pushed  her  cap  to  the  back  of  her  head, 
disarranging  a  mass  of  curling  dark  hair. 
Her  coloring  was  indefinable  in  the  red  light, 
but  her  eyes  were  large  and  long,  and  heav 
ily  lashed.  They  sparkled  wickedly.  The 
nostrils  of  her  finely  cut  nose  were  dilating ; 
her  short  upper  lip  was  lifted.  Clive  ar 
dently  hoped  that  she  would  continue  to 
defy  him.  Her  whole  attitude  was  that  of  a 
young  worldling,  delighting  in  an  unforeseen 
adventure. 

"Who  are  you  anyhow?"  she  demanded, 
"  Of  course  I  could  see  at  once  that  you 
were  a  gentleman,  or  I  should  not  have 
taken  the  slightest  notice  of  you." 

"  Thanks.     My  name  is  Owin  Clive." 

"  Oh,  you  are  Mary  Gordon's  friend, 
that  she  has  been  expecting." 

"  Miss  Gordon  is  an  old  friend  of  mine." 
He  half  consciously  hoped  that  Miss  Bel- 
mont  did  not  know  of  his  engagement. 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       29 

"  She  says  you  are  frightfully  handsome." 

Clive  laughed.  "  I  cannot  imagine  Miss 
Gordon  using  any  such  expression  ;  but  then 
she  has  been  two  years  in  California." 

"  I  suppose  Englishmen  can't  help  being 
rude.  I  remember  exactly  what  she  said, 
and  she  said  it  so  slowly  and  placidly.  '  Oh, 
yes,  dear  Miss  Belmont,  I  think  our  men 
are  very  fine-looking  indeed.'  (I  had  been 
blackguarding  them.)  '  My  friend,  Mr. 
Clive,  of  whom  you  have  heard  me  speak,  is 
quite  the  handsomest  man  I  have  ever  seen." 

"  That  sounds  more  like  it.  And  that  is 
exactly  what  she  would  have  said  two  years 
ago.  I  mean,"  laughing  with  some  embar 
rassment,  "  the  way  she  would  have  ex 
pressed  herself." 

"  Oh,  I  suppose  you  are  a  mass  of  vanity  ; 
all  men  are.  Yes  ;  your  Mary  Gordon  is 
as  English  as  if  she  had  never  left  Hertford 
shire.  And  always  will  be.  She  hasn't  a 
spark  of  originality." 


30      A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

Clive  discerned  her  purpose,  but  he  re 
plied  coldly,  "  Say  rather  that  she  has  indi 
viduality." 

"  Which  she  hasn't,  and  you  know  it.  I 
have  that.  Do  you  think  there  is  much  in 
common  between  us  ?  " 

"  How  can  I  tell  after  knowing  you  ten 
minutes?" 

"  I  can't  get  a  rise  out  of  you,  I  see.  You 
Englishmen  are  such  phlegmatic  creatures. 
I  don't  believe  there  is  a  spark  of  impulse 
left  in  your  island." 

"  You  are  a  very  brave  young  woman." 

"Why?"  She  drew  her  eyelashes  to 
gether,  shooting  forth  audacity. 

'4  Do  you  want  me  to  kiss  you  ?  " 

The  muscles  of  her  face  twitched  an 
grily. 

"  An  Englishman's  only  idea  of  wit  is  im 
pertinence." 

"  What  have  Englishmen  done  to  you 
that  you  are  so  bitter  ?  I  don't  believe 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       31 

those  lordlings  I  have  heard  of  proposed, 
after  all. " 

"  They  did,"  replied  Miss  Belmont  em 
phatically,  and  quite  restored.  "  Every  last 
one  of  them.  I  made  Dynebor  fetch  and 
carry  like  a  trained  dog.  It  was  great  fun. 
I  used  to  say,  before  a  room  full  of  people, 
'  Go  get  my  fan,  little  man  ;  I  left  it  with 
Charley  Rollins  in  the  conservatory.'  And 
he  would  trot  off  ;  he  was  that  hard  up,  poor 
thing ! " 

"  I  am  glad  you  did  not  marry  any  of 
them  ;  I  am  sure  they  were  not  good 
enough  for  you." 

"  How  polite  of  you.  Why  don't  you 
step  out  and  let  me  see  you  ?" 

"  My  vanity  will  not  permit.  I  feel  sure 
that  your  remarkable  frankness  would  not 
allow  you  to  disguise  your  disappointment." 

"  Well,  I  shall  see  you  on  Sunday.  You 
are  coming  with  Miss  Gordon  to  dine  with 
me.  She  has  accepted  for  you." 


32       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

"  I  shall  wait  until  then.  I  look  better 
in  evening  clothes  and  when  I  am  clean." 

o 

"  I  like  your  voice  and  your  figure,  and 
you  certainly  have  a  remarkable  amount  of 
magnetism,"  she  said  meditatively.  "  Good 
heavens  !  what  a  row  those  idiots  are  mak 
ing.  And  do  look  at  that  bonfire.  It  looks 
for  all  the  world  as  if  the  earth  had  run  its 
tongue  out  at  the  moon." 

Clive  wondered  why  he  did  not  kiss  her. 
He  certainly  wanted  to,  and  he  certainly 
would  have  been  justified.  He  recalled  no 
other  attractive  woman  who  \vould  have  had 
to  offer  half  the  encouragement  with  which 
Miss  Belmont  had  recklessly  toyed.  A  man 
who  coined  epigrams  for  sale  had  once  said 
of  him  ;  "  Clive  is  thoroughbred  ;  he  can 
drink  the  strongest  whiskey,  smoke  the 
blackest  cigars,  and  he  never  fails  to  kiss  a 
pretty  woman  when  the  opportunity  offers." 
And  yet,  so  far,  something  about  Miss  Bel 
mont  stayed  him.  He  had  no  intention 
that  it  should  endure,  however. 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       33 

The  scene  was  growing  more  and  more 
picturesque.  Behind  them  was  a  great  roar, 
crossed  by  the  howling  and  yelling  of  two 
hundred  and  twenty-one  abandoned  throats. 
The  remotest  aisles  of  the  forest  were  crim 
son.  Every  needle  of  the  delicate  young 
redwoods,  every  waving  frond  was  etched 
minutely  on  the  red  transparency.  The 
thousand  columns  with  their  stark  capitals 
wore  a  softened  and  gracious  aspect,  albeit 
the  general  effect  of  the  night  was  infernal. 

"  Are  you  going  ?"  asked  Clive. 

"  No."  She  curled  her  lips  defiantly 
away  from  her  teeth. 

Clive  crossed  the  short  space  between 
them  with  one  step,  lifted  her  in  his  arms 
and  walked  rapidly  up  the  trail.  For  a 
moment  she  was  too  stupefied  to  protest ; 
then  she  attempted  violently  to  free  herself. 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  she  cried  furiously. 
"  Do  you  know  who  I  am  ?  I  am  in  the 
habit  of  doing  exactly  as  I  please.  Every- 


34       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

body  knows  me,  here.  If  you  have  misunder 
stood  me  it's  because  you  are  a  thick-headed 
Englishman,  used  to  women  who  are  either 
stupid  or  bad." 

"  You  mean  that  the  men  you  surround 
yourself  with  are  idiots  who  permit  you  to 
play  with  them  as  you  choose.  Keep  quiet. 
Don't  you  see  that  you  can't  get  away  ?  If 
you  struggle  I  shall  hurt  you,  and  I  don't 
want  to  do  that." 

"  I  have  sat  up  all  night  with  men  and 
they  have  never  dared  to  kiss  me,  however 
much  they  may  have  wanted  to." 

"  Then  they  were  rotters,  and  you  can  tell 
them  so,  with  my  compliments.  If  I  sat  up 
all  night  with  you,  I  should  kiss  you,  and 
several  times." 

"  Well,  you  never  will  ! " 

They  reached  the  road.  She  stiffened 
suddenly  and  tried  to  spring  out  of  his  arms. 
He  placed  her  on  her  feet  and  grasped  her 
firmly  by  the  shoulders, 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       35 

"  Now."  he  said,  "kiss  me,  and  don't  be 
silly  about  it.  If  you  go  in  for  larks  of  this 
sort  you  must  take  the  consequences."  She 
wrenched  again.  He  caught  and  held  her 
so  firmly  that  she  could  not  struggle. 

"  You  brute  of  an  Englishman,"  she 
gasped. 

Clive  clasped  his  hand  about  the  lower 
part  of  her  face  and  lifted  it  gently.  As  he 
did  so  he  shifted  his  position  and  the  light, 
for  the  first  time,  shone  full  on  his  face. 
The  girl  became  suddenly  quiet.  Some 
thing  leaped  into  her  eyes  which  his  own 
answered.  But  as  he  bent  his  face,  she 
moved  her  head  backward  along  his  shoulder. 

"  Please,  please,  don't,"  she  said  beseech 
ingly.  "  Oh,  please,  don't." 

Clive  let  her  go.  He  walked  with  her  to 
the  horse,  mounted  her,  and  watched  her 
dash  away. 

"What  a  stupid  ass  I  am,"  he  thought. 
"  Why  on  earth  didn't  I  kiss  that  woman  ?  " 


36       A   WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

He  walked  up  the  road  for  a  few  mo 
ments,  then  turned  and  made  for  the  clear 
ing. 

The  flames  were  still  leaping  symmetri 
cally  upward  into  a  dense  column  of  smoke, 
the  men  still  dancing  about  the  pyre,  their 
enthusiasm  unabated.  As  Clive  suddenly 
appeared  in  their  midst  an  immediate  and 
disagreeable  silence  fell.  Clive  had  never 
felt  so  uncomfortable  in  his  life.  He  con 
cealed  a  certain  amount  of  natural  shyness 
under  a  haughty  bearing,  which  would  have 
repelled  strangers  had  it  not  been  for  his 
charm  of  expression,  the  quick  laughter  of 
his  eyes. 

"  Does  Mr.  Charles  Rollins  happen  to  be 
here  ?  "  he  asked  stiffly.  "  I  have  brought 
a  letter  to  him.  My  name  is  Clive.  I  have 
an  apology  to  make.  I  stumbled  upon 
your  strange  ceremony  and  watched  it,  not 
knowing  at  the  time  that  there  was  any 
thing  private  about  it " 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       37 

"  Don't  mention  it.  Don't  mention  it," 
cried  a  hearty  voice.  A  young  man  pushed 
forward  from  the  back  of  the  circle  and 
grasped  his  hand.  "  I  had  a  letter  from 
Stanley  and  hoped  you  would  get  here  in 
time  for  this.  You  can  make  up  for  being 
late  only  by  drinking  six  quarts  of  fizz  be 
tween  now  and  sunrise.  Boys,  come  up  and 
shake." 

Clive's  hand  was  shaken,  with  a  solem 
nity  which  at  first  embarrassed,  then  amused 
him,  by  every  man  present.  Then  solem 
nity  vanished,  and  with  it  any  lingering  rem 
nant  of  Clive's  shyness. 

The  odor  of  savory  viands  mingled  with 
burning  pitch  and  the  subtler  perfumes  of 
the  forest.  A  great  table  was  spread. 
Champagne  corks  flew.  Before  an  hour 
was  done,  Clive  was  voted  the  liveliest  Eng 
lishman,  that  had  ever  set  foot  in  California, 
and  elected  off-hand  an  honorary  member 
of  the  Bohemian  Club. 


CHAPTER  II. 

AT  four  o'clock  Clive  once  more  started 
for  Yorba.  He  had  not  drunk  six 
quarts  of  champagne,  but  he  had  com 
manded  the  respect  of  his  comrades  by  the 
courage  with  which  he  had  mixed  his  drinks. 
Rollins  had  held  his  head  under  a  waterfall, 
in  the  little  river,  but  it  still  felt  very  large. 
He  took  off  his  straw  hat  and  looked  at  it 
resentfully.  Why  had  he  not  worn  his  travel 
ing  cap  ?  He  also  felt  depressed,  and 
reproached  himself  vehemently.  What  must 
Mary  Gordon  think  ?  Doubtless  she  was  sit 
ting  up  waiting  for  him,  and  thought  him  dead 
— murdered.  Nevertheless  he  had  enjoyed 
himself  thoroughly,  and  he  found  remorse 
more  coy  than  he  would  have  wished.  He 
had  an  uneasy  consciousness  that  if  his  head 
did  not  ache  so  confoundedly  he  would  not 
feel  remorse  at  all. 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       39 

His  thoughts  wandered  to  Miss  Belmont. 
"  I  believe  I  found  the  woman  for  the  forest, 
after  all.  I  wonder  if  she  would  fit  it  as  well 
now.  Perhaps,  in  another  mood.  I  fancy 
she  is  a  woman  of  many." 

The  redwoods  were  dripping  with  mist, 
itself  as  motionless  as  the  silent  trees  it 
shrouded.  It  filled  every  hollow,  was  banked 
in  every  aisle,  lay  like  silver  cobweb  on  the 
young  redwoods  and  ferns.  It  emphasized 
the  ghastly  silence.  Not  a  bird  was  awake, 
not  a  crawling  thing  moved.  Once  a  pan 
ther  cried  far  up  on  the  mountain,  but  that 
was  all. 

Clive  came  upon  the  hotel  an  hour  later, 
a  long  rough  wooden  structure  at  the  foot  of 
the  mountain,  up  which  straggled  many  cot 
tages.  Hard  by,  across  a  little  creek,  were 
a  saloon  and  billiard-room.  As  he  ascended 
the  steps,  a  stout  man  with  a  red  heavy 
face,  came  out  of  the  office,  stretching 
himself. 


40       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

"  You're  Mr.  Clive,  the  Gordons'  friend, 
I  surmise,"  he  said. 

"  I  hope  they  haven't  sat  up  for  me."  He 
devoutly  hoped  they  had  not. 

"  They  hain't.  Miss  Gordon  waited  till 
twelve,  then  concluded  you'd  fallen  in  with 
the  Bohemian  Club,  as  she  knowed  you'd 
brought  a  letter  to  Rollins.  Jedgingby  the 
looks  of  you,  I  should  say  you  had.  Come 
over  to  the  bar  and  taper  off.  My  name's 
Hart,  and  I  run  this  hotel." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Clive  grimly,  "but  I'll 
have  no  more  to-night.  Be  good  enough  to 
show  me  to  my  room,  and  be  sure  to  have 
me  wakened  at  eight.  I  suppose  Mr.  and 
Miss  Gordon  are  not  up  before  then  If 
they  are,  please  give  them  my  compliments 
and  tell  them  that  I  did  fall  in  with  the  Bohe 
mian  Club." 


CHAPTER  III. 

WHEN  Clive  awoke  and  looked  at  his 
watch,  it  was  a  quarter  to  three 
in  the  afternoon.  He  sprang  out 
of  bed  in  dismay.  He  was  an  ideal  lover  ! 
If  Mary  Gordon  sent  him  about  his  business 
he  could  not  question  the  justice  of  the  act. 
After  a  hurried  tub  and  toilet  he  went  in 
search  of  his  landlord. 

"Why  in  thunder  didn't  you  call  me  at 
eight  ? "  he  asked  savagely. 

"  Miss  Gordon  was  up  at  seven,  mister, 
and  she  gave  strict  orders  that  you  was  not 
to  be  disturbed.  I'm  to  take  you  over  to 
her  cottage  the  minute  you  show  up,  and  to 
send  a  broiled  chicken  after  you." 

"  She's  an  angel,"  thought  Clive,  "and 
will  certainly  make  an  ideal  wife." 

He  followed  his  host  out  of  the  hotel  and 
up  the  hill.  The  summer  girl  in  pink  and 


42       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

blue,  sailor  hat  and  shirt-waist,  dotted  the 
greenery ;  in  rare  instances  attended  by  a 
swain.  On  the  piazzas  of  the  hotel  and 
cottages  older  women  knitted  or  read  novels. 

The  day  was  very  warm.  The  sun  shone 
down  into  the  forest  above  and  about  the 
cottages,  where  the  trees  were  not  so  densely 
planted  as  in  the  depths.  The  under  forest 
looked  very  green  and  fresh.  A  creek  mur 
mured  somewhere.  Bees  hummed  drowsily. 

Clive's  head  still  ached  and  he  was  hun 
gry  ;  but  at  this  moment  he  was  conscious 
of  nothing  but  a  paramount  wish  to  see 
Mary  Gordon. 

Mr.  Gordon,  a  pink-faced  man  with  white 
side-whiskers,  was  standing  on  the  piazza  of 
a  tiny  cottage  which  looked  as  if  it  had  been 
built  in  a  night.  He  winked  at  Clive  as  he 
came  down  and  shook  him  heartily  by  the 
hand.  He  had  loved  his  wife  and  been 
kind  to  her,  but  had  always  done  exactly  as 
he  pleased. 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       43 

"  She's  inside,"  he  whispered,  "and  I 
don't  think  she'll  row  you.  Sorry  it  hap 
pened,  just  vow  it  never  will  again,  and  she'll 
forget  it.  They  always  do,  bless  them  !" 

Clive  went  hastily  into  the  little  parlor. 
Mary  Gordon  was  standing  in  the  middle  of 
the  room,  her  hands  tightly  clasped,  her 
eyes  very  bright,  her  upper  lip  caught  be 
tween  her  teeth.  Clive  saw  in  a  glance  that 
she  had  more  style  and  grace  of  carriage 
than  when  she  had  left  England.  Her  hair 
was  more  fashionably  arranged,  and  alto 
gether  she  was  a  handsomer  girl.  He  took 
her  in  his  arms  and  kissed  her  many  times, 
and  she  cried  softly  on  his  shoulder.  He 
humbled  himself  to  the  dust,  and  was  told 
that  he  must  always  do  exactly  what  he 
wanted  ;  and  he  felt  a  distinct  thrill  of  pleas 
urable  domestic  anticipation.  He  had  been 
spoiled  all  his  life,  and  would  have  taken  to 
matrimonial  discipline  very  unkindly. 

When  he  had  eaten  of  the  broiled  chicken 


44       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

and  several  other  substantial  delicacies,  and 
was  at  peace  with  himself  and  the  world 
once  more,  he  went  for  a  long  walk  in  the 
forest  with  Mary.  After  a  time  they  sat 
down  on  a  log,  and  he  lit  his  pipe  and  tried 
to  imagine  an  environment  of  English  oaks 
and  beeches.  Again  and  more  forcibly  he 
felt  the  discordance  between  the  English 
girl,  simplified  by  generations  of  discipline 
and  homogeneous  traditions,  and  this  green 
light,  this  strange  brooding  silence, this  vast 
solitude  suggesting  a  new  world,  a  new  race, 
an  unimaginable  future, — this  hot,  electric, 
sensuous  air. 

They  talked  of  the  past  two  years,  and  of 
their  future  together. 

"  I  have  not  told  any  one  yet  that  we  are 
engaged,"  said  Mary.  "  People  here  don't 
seem  to  take  things  as  seriously  as  we  do, 
and  I  could  not  stand  being  chaffed  about 
it.  I  have  merely  said  that  we  expected  an 
old  and  dear  friend  of  the  family." 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       45 

"  I  am  glad.     It's  a  bore  to  be  chaffed." 

"  Of  course  I  have  written  to  all  our 
friends  in  England  that  we  are  to  be  mar 
ried  on  the  twelfth  ;  but  as  the  wedding  is 
to  be  so  quiet,  it  is  not  necessary  to  tell  any 
one  here." 

"How  do  you  like  this  country?"  he 
asked  curiously.  "  I  mean  how  does  it  suit 
you  personally  ?  Of  course,  I  know  you 
would  make  up  your  mind  to  like  any  place 
where  duty  happened  to  take  you,  but  you 
must  have  a  private  little  idea  on  the  sub 
ject,  and  it  is  your  duty  to  tell  me  every 
thing." 

She  smiled  happily.  "  '  Well ! '  as  they 
say  here,  now  that  I  am  sure  that  Edith 
will  make  papa  comfortable,  I  shall  be  glad 
enough  to  go  back  to  England.  California 
doesn't  suit  me  at  all.  It  rubs  me  the  wrong 
way.  I  think  I  should  develop  nerves  if  I 
stayed  here  much  longer.  Americans  don't 
seem  to  me  to  be  half  human.  Helena  Bel- 


46       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

mont  says  that  America  will  be  the  greatest 
nation  on  earth  when  it  gets  a  soul,  but  that 
it  is  nothing  but  a  kicking,  squalling,  preco 
cious  infant  at  present ;  and  that  if  some  one 
were  clever  enough  to  stick  his  finger  in  the 
soft  spot  on  the  top  of  its  head,  it  would 
transform  it  into  an  idiot  or  a  corpse ;  but 
that  America  will  pull  through  all  right 
because  she  has  so  many  weak  points  that 
her  enemies  forget  which  is  the  weakest. 
Miss  Belmont  is  so  clever.  You  will  meet 
her  on  Sunday.  You  don't  mind  my  hav 
ing  accepted  an  invitation  for  you  to  dine 
there  ?" 

"  Not  at  all.  It  was  very  kind  of  you,  I 
am  sure.  I  have  heard  of  this  Miss  Bel 
mont  ;  I  don't  imagine  you  find  much  in 
common  with  her." 

"  She  horrifies  me,  but  she  fascinates  me 
more  than  any  person  I  have  met  here.  I 
am  sure  she  is  a  good  woman,  in  spite  of  the 
reckless  things  she  does.  Your  friend,  Mr. 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       47 

Rollins,  says  that  she  is  the  concentrated 
essence  of  California,  and  I  always  excuse 
her  on  that  ground.  You  never  know  what 
she  is  going  to  do  or  say  next ;  and  she  is 
the  most  desperate  flirt  I  ever  heard  of.  I 
suppose  she  is  so  beautiful  she  can't  help  it. 
Her  eyes  always  seem  to  be  looking  at  you 
through  tears,  even  when  they  are  laughing 
or  flirting,  although  I  don't  believe  she  sheds 
many.  I  cannot  imagine  her  crying,  al 
though  I  know  her  to  be  kind-hearted,  and 
generous,  and  impulsive." 

"  Do  you  call  it  kind-hearted  to  throw 
fifteen  men  over?  " 

"  I  told  her  once  that  I  thought  it  was 
morally  wrong  for  her  to  lure  men  on  to 
such  a  terrible  awakening,  and  she  said  that 
there  was  just  one  thing  that  man  didn't 
know,  which  was  woman  ;  and  that  it  was 
her  duty  to  her  sex  to  addle  their  brains  on 
the  subject  as  much  as  possible.  But  I  want 
you  to  know  me,  Owin." 


48       A   WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

"  The  better  I  know  you,  the  better  I 
shall  love  you." 

"  When  your  eyes  laugh  like  that  I  never 
know  whether  you  are  chaffing  me  or  not. 
It  will  not  take  long,  for  I  am  not  clever ; " 
she  smiled  a  little  sadly.  "  You  are  so  clever 
that  I  know  you  will  often  want  to  go  and 
talk  to  women  who  know  more  than  I  do  ; 
but  none  of  them  will  ever  love  you  so  well." 

"  I  know  it,"  he  said  tenderly,  and  he 
believed  what  he  said. 

"  I  am  glad  that  I  have  been  in  California, 
though,"  pursued  Mary.  "  It  has  broadened 
me.  At  home  we  take  it  for  granted  that 
all  the  unconventional  people  are  bad,  and 
all  the  conventional  ones  good,  Here  it  is 
so  different ;  although  I  must  say  that  I  never 
heard  so  much  petty  gossip  and  scandal  in 
my  life  as  there  is  in  the  smart  set  in  San 
Francisco.  All  visitors  remark  that ;  I  sup 
pose  it  is  because  they  have  so  little  to  do 
and  think  about.  It  is  very  slow  here  socially ; 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       49 

and  I  suppose  that  is  what  makes  some  of  the 
women  do  such  outlandish  things — that  and 
the  country,  for  even  the  quiet  ones  are  not 
exactly  like  other  people.  One  can  judge 
for  oneself.  I  have  often  pinned  the  tattlers 
down  when  they  were  abusing  Helena  Bel- 
mont,  for  instance,  and  they  could  not  verify 
a  single  statement." 

"  Women  know  each  other  very  little,"  said 
Clive. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

HE  passed  his  nights  in  the  Bohemian 
Club  camp,  his  mornings  in  bed,  the 
remaining  hours  wandering  about 
with  his  betrothed;  and  felt  that  alto 
gether  life  was  not  understood  by  the  pessi 
mists.  England,  with  the  struggles  and  cares 
and  responsibilities  it  held  in  store  for  him, 
seemed  to  exist  only  between  the  rusty 
covers  of  history,  and  life  a  thing  to  be 
dawdled  away  in  a  wonderful  forest,  where 
the  very  air  made  a  man  hate  the  thought 
of  all  that  was  hard  and  ugly  and  too  serious. 
Clive  was  something  more  than  curious  to 
see  Miss  Belmont  again,  but  hardly  knew 
whether  he  ought  to  go  to  her  house  or  not. 
It  was  possible  that  she  expected  him  to 
decline  an  invitation  proffered  before  an 
unpleasant  adventure  ;  but  unless  he  pleaded 
sudden  illness  he  did  not  see  his  way  out  of 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       51 

acceptance.  On  Saturday,  however,  Mary 
received  a  note  from  the  chdtelaine  of  Casa 
del  Norte,  reminding  her  of  the  dinner  and 
of  her  promise  to  bring  Mr.Clive. 

"Charley  Rollins  tells  me  that  he  is  the 
best  all-round  Englishman  he  has  ever 
known,"  the  note  concluded  ;  "not  the  least 
bit  of  a  cad.  I  am  most  anxious  to  meet  him." 

Mary  laughed  as  she  handed  the  note  to 
Clive.  "  If  any  other  woman  had  written 
that  I'd  never  enter  her  house  again.  But, 
somehow,  you  let  her  say  and  do  exactly 
what  she  chooses.  The  trouble  is  that  the 
only  Englishmen  she  has  met  have  been  for 
tune  hunters.  When  we  are  married  I'll 
ask  her  over  to  visit  us,  and  let  her  meet 
men  who  are  almost  as  perfect  as  you  are.' 

Clive  said,  '  Yes,  dear,"  absently.  Three 
days  of  unshifting  devotion  had  blunted  the 
fine  point  of  his  content. 

The  next  day  Mary  was  prostrate  with 


52       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

one  of  the  severe  headaches  to  which  she 
was  subject,  and  sent  Clive  off  with  Charley 
Rollins  to  the  dinner. 

"  Go,  go,  my  boy,"  Mr.  Gordon  had  said 
to  him,  when  Clive  had  displayed  a  decent 
amount  of  reluctance  ;  "  she'll  be  too  ill  to 
be  spoken  to  for  twenty-four  hours.  You 
could  do  no  good  by  hanging  round." 

During  the  hour's  drive  through  the  red 
woods  Clive  said  to  Rollins  : 

"You  are  a  great  friend  of  Miss  Belmont, 
are  you  not  ?  " 

"  I  am,  for  a  fact." 

"  Have  you  known  her  long?" 

"  She  nearly  scratched  my  eyes  out  when 
she  was  three  and  I  five.  I've  adored  her 
ever  since,  and  think  the  reason  I've  been 
able  to  hang  on  successfully  is  because  I've 
never  proposed  to  her." 

"  I've  heard  several  opinions  of  her,  and 
I'd  like  yours.  I  can't  say  that,  so  far,  I've 
met  any  one  likely  to  understand  her.  You 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.        53 

should,  particularly  as  you  have  never  made 
love  to  her." 

Rollins  half  closed  his  shrewd,  dark  eyes, 
and  tilted  his  hat  over  his  nose.  Like  all 
San  Francisco  men,  he  looked  carelessly 
dressed,  although  in  evening  clothes,  and 
carried  himself  badly  ;  but  his  face  was  clear 
and  refined,  his  hair  and  beard  trimly 
cut. 

"  Helena  Belmont,"  he  said,  in  what  the 
club  called  his  "  summing-up  voice,"  "has  the 
genius  of  California  in  her,  like  Sibyl  San 
derson  and  a  dozen  others  I  could  mention 
without  stopping  to  think,  although  they 
would  be  mere  names  to  you.  You  see,  it 
is  like  this  :  all  sorts  of  men  came  here  in 
early  days — poor  men  of  good  family  who 
had  failed  at  home,  or  were  too  proud  to 
work  there  ;  desperadoes,  adventurers,  men 
of  middle  life  and  broken  fortunes — all  of 
them  expecting  everything  from  the  new 
land,  and  ready  to  tear  the  heart  out  of  any- 


54       A   WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

one  who  got  in  their  way.  It  was  every 
man  for  himself  and  the  devil  take  the  hind 
most.  Many  succeeded.  Some  of  their  meth 
ods  will  not  bear  the  fierce  light  of  history. 
That  savage  spirit,  that  instinct  to  trample 
to  a  goal  over  anything  or  anybody,  that  in 
tolerance  of  restraint,  still  lingers  in  the  very 
atmosphere,  and  is  quick  in  the  blood  of 
many  of  the  present  generation,  although, 
strangely  enough,  it  has  given  a  distincter 
individuality  to  the  women  than  to  the  men. 
Of  course,  there  are  Californians  and  Cali- 
fornians.  It  is  always  a  mistake  to  general 
ize  too  freely,  but  the  type  I  speak  of  is  the 
most  significant,  although  you  will  find  no 
Californian  exactly  like  any  other  American. 
This  is  the  land  of  the  composite.  All 
America  and  all  Europe  have  emptied  them 
selves  into  it.  God  knows  what  it  will  sift 
down  to  eventually — the  commonplace,  prob 
ably.  As  for  Helena  Belmont,  Jack  Bel- 
mont,  her  father,  came  here  in  the  fifties, 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       55 

and  hung  up  his  shingle.  He  was  one  of 
the  cleverest  lawyers  the  State  has  had. 
He  rarely  drew  a  sober  breath,  and  was  never 
seen  to  stagger  ;  he  was  an  inveterate  gam 
bler,  and  a  terror  with  women.  He  married 
a  Miss  Lowell,  of  Boston,  who  came  out 
here  on  a  visit — a  beautiful  girl ;  and  God 
knows  what  she  went  through  with  him. 
You  may  be  surprised  that  she  married  him. 
I  may  have  given  you  the  impression  that 
he  was  a  cowboy  in  a  red  shirt  and  sombrero. 
Jack  Belmont  was  one  of  the  most  elegant 
men  this  State  has  ever  seen,  a  gentleman 
when  he  was  drunkest,  and  the  idol  of  the 
Southern  set,  a  strong  contingent  here. 
There  you  have  the  elements  of  which  Hel 
ena  Belmont  is  made  up.  She  has  the  blood 
of  Cavaliers  and  Roundheads  in  her  veins  ; 
she  grew  up  amidst  the  clash  of  the  South 
against  the  North,  for  no  two  people  could 
ever  have  been  more  unmated  than  her 
mother  and  father  ;  and  she  was  born  in 


56       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

California,  nurtured  on  its  new  savage  tra 
ditions,  and  mentally  and  temperamentally 
fitted  to  draw  in  twice  her  measure  of  its 
atmosphere.  She  does  what  she  pleases,  be 
cause  she  would  never  know  if  she  were 
beaten,  has  a  tremendous  personality,  and  a 
million  dollars.  Here  we  are." 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  forest  had  ended  abruptly.     They 
had  come  upon  a  large  low  adobe 
house  on  a  plateau,  looking  down 
over  a  shelving  table-land  upon  the  ocean, 
a  mile  below. 

"  It's  about  eighty  years  old,"  said  Rollins, 
"  which  is  antique  in  this  country.  It  be 
longed  to  one  of  the  grandees  of  the  old 
time,  and  Miss  Belmont  bought  it  shortly 
after  her  father's  death.  She  has  several 
houses,  but  this  is  her  favorite.  It  has 
about  thirty  rooms,  and  there  have  been 
some  jolly  good  times  up  here,  I  can  tell 
you.  Those  are  the  original  tiles  and  the 
original  walls,  but  everything  else  has  been 
pretty  well  modernized,  except  that  old 
orchard  you  see  on  the  other  side,  and  the 
vineyard  and  rose-garden." 


58       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

They  dismounted  at  an  open  gateway  in 
a  high  adobe  wall,  and  entered  a  large  order- 
less  garden.  The  air  was  sweet  with  the 
delicate  perfume  of  Castilian  roses,  whose 
green,  thorny  bushes,  thick  with  pink,  rioted 
over  the  walls,  up  the  oaks,  across  the 
paths,  and  looked  as  if  no  hand  had  cut  or 
trimmed  them  since  the  old  Spaniard  had 
coaxed  them  from  the  soil,  nearly  a  century 
ago. 

"  She  hates  modern  gardens,"  said  Rollins, 
"and  has  never  had  a  gardener  in  this. 
We'd  prefer  to  walk  without  leaving  our 
selves  in  shreds  and  patches  on  the  thorns, 
but  if  suits  her  I  suppose  it's  all  right." 

They  entered  the  house  opposite  a  court 
yard  filled  with  palm  trees  and  rustic  chairs. 
A  large,  curiously  modelled  fountain,  which 
Rollins  told  Clive  was  the  work  of  the 
old  Franciscans,  splashed  lazily.  Several 
young  men  were  swinging  in  hammocks 
on  the  corridor  which  traversed  the  four 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       59 

sides  of  the  court.  A  Chinese  servant,  in 
blouse  and  pendent  cue,  was  passing  cock 
tails. 

Rollins  conducted  Clive  into  a  small  draw 
ing-room,  fitted  in  copper-colored  silken 
stuffs,  and  overlooking  the  ocean.  Nei 
ther  Miss  Belmont  nor  her  aunt  was  present, 
and  Rollins  introduced  Clive  to  the  assem 
bled  guests,  with  running  foot-notes  not 
intended  for  the  ear  of  the  subject. 

"  Miss  Lord," — presenting  Clive  to  a  tall 
handsome,  scornful-looking  girl, — "  she  tears 
out  reputations  with  her  teeth.  Miss  Car 
ter, — a  clever  little  snob,  who  is  a  joy  to 
flirt  with  because  you  know  she  is  too  selfish 
to  fall  in  love  with  you.  Mrs.  Lent, — an 
army  flirt,  who  has  done  much  to  educate 
the  youth  of  San  Francisco.  Mrs.  Volney, 
— a  widow  with  a  commanding  talent  for 
marrying  and  burying  rich  husbands.  Miss 
Leonard, — who  plays  better  than  any  wo 
man  in  San  Francisco,  which  is  saying  a 


60       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

good  deal ;  a  lovely  girl,  if  a  trifle  cold. 
Mrs.  Tower, — a  really  charming  young  wid 
ow,  with  a  voice  as  fiery  as  her  eyes.  Miss 
West, — who  is  half  Spanish,  a  good  deal 
of  a  prude,  and  a  most  accomplished  flirt. 
Here  comes  Mrs.  Cartright,  who  has  the 
honor  of  being  Miss  Belmont's  aunt,  chap 
eron,  and  slave." 

A  middle-aged  lady — small,  stout,  but 
with  much  dignity  of  bearing,  her  dark  face 
refined  and  gentle — entered,  and  greeted 
Clive  with  the  rich  Southern  brogue  which 
twenty  years  of  California  had  not  tempered. 
As  he  exchanged  platitudes  with  her,  she 
reminded  him  of  a  gentle  breeze  which  had 
wandered  aimlessly  in,  barely  touching  his 
cheek.  She  talked  incessantly,  and  wholly 
without  consequence. 

Clive  had  created  a  perceptible  flutter 
among  the  women.  Being  a  shy  man,  he 
was  painfully  aware  that  every  eye  in  the 
room  was  upon  him,  and  that  he  was  being 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       61 

discussed  behind  more  than  one  fan.  The 
other  men — society  youths — had  entered, 
and  looked  crude  and  new  beside  him.  He 
had  the  straight  figure  of  the  athlete,  and 
carried  his  clothes  in  a  manner  which  made 
Rollins  feel,  as  he  confided  to  Miss  Carter, 
like  hitching  up  his  trousers.  His  closely 
cut  hair  was  almost  black  ;  his  moustache 
the  color  of  straw,  and  as  uneven  as  frequent 
conflagrations  could  make  it,  fell  over  a  deli- 

o 

cately  cut,  strong,  mobile  mouth.  It  had 
taken  many  generations  to  breed  his  profile 
—so  delicate  and  sensitive  was  it,  yet  so 
strong.  His  eyes  were  grey  and  well  set, 
full  of  humor  and  fire.  The  chin  and  neck 
were  a  trifle  heavy.  There  was  something 
very  splendid  about  the  whole  appearance 
of  the  man,  and  he  filled  the  eye  whenever 
he  stood  in  a  room. 

Mrs.  Cartwright's  fluttering  attention  hav 
ing  been  deflected  elsewhere,  he  plunged 
his  hands  into  his  pockets  and  talked  to 


62       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

Mrs.  Volney,  whose  crepe  set  off  a  pair  of 
shoulders  of  which  he  approved.  She  was 
a  remarkably  pretty  women,  with  large  in 
nocent-looking  green  eyes  and  golden  hair, 
and  conversed  with  a  babyish  inflection 
which  he  thought  very  fetching.  In  a  mo 
ment  he  forgot  her,  and  went  toward  the 
door  with  Rollins.  Miss  Belmont  had  en 
tered. 

The  pink  color  in  her  face  flamed  for  a 
moment,  but  her  eyes  lit  with  an  admiration 
so  unmistakable  that  Clive,  too,  colored  and 
laughed  nervously.  He  wondered  if  his 
eyes  were  as  frank  as  hers.  Her  tall,  slim 
figure  was  very  round ;  the  delicate  neck 
carried  no  superfluous  flesh,  but  was  appar 
ently  boneless.  The  small  proud  head  was 
poised  well  back.  Clive  knew  her  features  ; 
but  the  rich  mahogany-brown  hair,  crisp 
and  electric,  and  curling  unmanageably,  the 
dark  blue  eyes,  the  warm  whiteness  of  skin, 
the  pink  of  cheek  and  lips,  were  the  spendid 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       63 

finish  of  a  hasty  sketch.  Her  white  gown 
was  of  some  silken  stuff  embroidered  with 
silver,  and  pearls  were  in  her  hair  and  about 
her  throat.  She  looked  as  proud  and  calm 
and  well-conducted  as  a  young  empress. 

"Of  course  this  is  Mr.  Clive,"  she  said. 
"You  are  not  at  all  necessary,  Charley.  I 
am  so  sorry  Miss  Gordon  is  ill.  Give  me 
your  arm ;  dinner  is  ready.  I  know  that 
you  have  not  told  any  one,"  she  murmured, 
as  they  walked  down  the  corridor. 

"  How  do  you  know  ?  It  is  a  good  story, 
and  I  may  have  told  it  all  over  the  place." 

"  I  am  sure  you  have  not  even  told  it  to 
Miss  Gordon." 

"Why  Miss  Gordon?"  he  asked,  smiling 
into  her  frankly  curious  eyes. 

"Are  you  engaged  to  her?" 

He  laughed  but  made  no  reply. 

"  I  don't  believe  you  are,"  she  said  ab 
ruptly,  after  they  were  seated.  "You  don't 
look  the  least  bit  as  if  any  one  owned  you." 


64       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

"  Why  did  you  make  an  English  room  of 
this?  It  might  have  been  taken  bodily  out 
of  some  old  manor  house.  These  China 
men  in  it  are  an  anomaly.  I  should  have 
thought  you  would  rather  preserve  the  char 
acter  of  the  country." 

"The  old  Californians  had  no  taste  what 
ever  about  interiors — whitewashed  walls  and 
hair-cloth  furniture.  Besides,  we  have  just 
about  as  much  of  California  out  here  as  we 
can  stand,  and  like  to  import  something  else 
into  it  occasionally." 

There  were  eighteen  people  at  table.  The 
conversation  was  principally  about  other  peo 
ple.  Occasionally,  a  current  novel  or  play 
captured  a  few  moments'  attention,  but  the 
talk  soon  swung  triumphantly  back  to  person 
alities.  Clive  had  never  seen  so  many  pretty 
women  together.  One  or  two  were  beautiful. 
The  dense  blackness  of  Mrs.  Tower's  hair, 
the  red  and  olive  of  her  skin,  the  high  cheek 
bones,  inadvertently  modelled  features,  and 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       65 

fierce  eyes  suggested  Indian  ancestry.  Miss 
West's  soft  Spanish  eyes  languished  or 
coquetted,  but  there  was  a  New  England 
meagreness  about  her  mouth.  Miss  Leon 
ard,  with  her  cendrd  hair,  and  cold  regular 
features,  might  have  had  all  the  blood  of  all 
the  Howards  in  her.  Mrs.  Lent  had  a  dark 
piquant  Franco-American  face.  Miss  Car 
ter  was  very  small,  very  dignified,  with  large 
cool  intelligent  grey  eyes,  abundant  yellow 
hair,  and  an  Irish  nose  and  upper  lip.  All 
had  the  slight  bust  and  generous  develop 
ment  of  hip  and  leg  peculiar  to  the  Califor- 
nian  women.  The  men  interested  Clive  less  ; 
they  looked  very  ordinary  society  youths, 
and  he  wondered  if  Rollins  could  not  dis 
pose  of  them  collectively  in  an  epigram. 

He  quarrelled  intermittently  with  Miss 
Belmont  :  they  did  not  hit  it  off.  Neverthe 
less,  he  wondered  if  it  could  be  the  rashling 
he  had  met  in  the  forest.  She  still  wore  her 
regal  air  and  would  have  looked  as  cold  as 


66       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

one  of  the  fine  marbles  in  her  drawing-room, 
had  it  not  been  for  her  lavish  coloring.  She 
took  little  part  in  the  general  conversation, 
and  he  said  to  her  abruptly  : 

"  These  people  don't  seem  to  interest  you." 

"  I'm  tired  to  death  of  them.  I'll  turn 
them  all  out  presently.  I  bought  this  place 
to  be  near  the  redwoods,  which  I  love  bet 
ter  than  anything  in  the  world,  and  I  like  to 
entertain  by  fits  and  starts.  I  spent  last 
winter  here  alone." 

"  I  should  like  to  have  known  you  then. 
When  you  get  time  to  think  about  yourself, 
you  must  be  a  charming  egoist." 

"You  have  the  most  impertinent  tongue 
and  the  most  flirtatious  eyes  I  have  ever 
met." 

"  WThere  is  the  man  you  are  engaged  to  ?" 

"  Up  at  Shasta  and  the  lava  beds.  He 
will  be  back  in  a  few  days.  You  will  like 
him." 

"  Is  he  a  good  fellow  ?  " 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       67 

"  Yes,"  with  friendly  enthusiasm  ;  "  an 
awfully  good  fellow." 

"  You  don't  love  him,  though." 

Her  lashes  half  met — a  habit  they  had. 
"  No,"  she  said,  "  I  don't  believe  I  do." 

"Helena!  Helena!"  cried  Rollins. 
"  Clive,  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  tell  you  that  she 
is  engaged,  and  for  the  fifteenth  time." 

"He  has  been  telling  me  that  I  am  not  in 
love  with  Mr.  Van  Rhuys,  and  intimating 
that  he  has  come  just  in  time  to  save  me 
from  a  fatal  mistake." 

She  looked  charmingly  impertinent,  her 
eyes  half  closed,  her  chin  lifted,  her  pink 
lips  pouting  from  their  classic  lines. 

Clive  was  somewhat  taken  aback,  but  re 
plied  promptly,  "  If  I  disclaim,  it  is  from 
timidity,  not  lack  of  gallantry  :  I  fear  I  should 
learn  more  than  I  have  the  power  to  teach." 

Everybody  laughed.  Miss  Belmont's 
eyes  sparkled.  "  You  mean,"  she  said,  when 
the  attention  of  the  others  was  once  more 


68       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

diverted,  "  that  you  are  not  going  to  fall  in 
love  with  me.  Everybody  does,  you  know. 
I  never  mind  surrounding  myself  with  beauti 
ful  women,  because  I  am  much  more  fasci 
nating  than  any  of  them." 

"  I  am  hopelessly  unoriginal,  but  I  shall 
make  a  desperate  effort  this  time." 

"  Why  do  you  say  that  ?  You  look  quite 
unlike  any  one  I  have  ever  seen  ;  I  mean 
quite  a  different  person  looks  out  of  your 
eyes."  Her  own  eyes  had  a  frankly  specu 
lative  regard  devoid  of  coquetry,  Clive's 
masculine  vanity  warmed. 

"  You  read  a  great  deal  I  hear,"  he  said. 

"  What  an  extraordinary  way  you  have  of 
ignoring  what  a  person  says  to  you.  Are  you 
absent-minded,  or  deaf,  or  merely  impolite  ?  " 

"  Merely  an  Englishman." 

Miss  Belmont's  color  deepened.  Clive's 
eyes  invoked  a  ridiculous  picture  of  a  stately 
young  chdtclaine  kicking  and  struggling  in 
an  Englishman's  arms. 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       69 

"  Why  clo  the  people  of  your  country  take 
pride  in  being  rude?" 

"They  don't.  They  don't  bother  about 
trifles  like  the  men  of  several  other  nations, 
that  is  all.  I'll  open  the  door  for  you  when 
you  leave  the  room,  and  even  take  off  my 
hat  in  the  lift  and  catch  a  cold  in  my  head, 
but  don't  expect  me  to  find  a  reply  to  all 
the  nonsense  a  woman  chooses  to  talk,  if  a 
more  interesting  subject  occurs  to  me." 

"  Are  you  very  haughty  and  supercilious, 
or  are  you  very  shy  ?  " 

"  What  does  that  mean  ? " 

"  I  mean  that  you  were  flattered  to  death 
by  what  I  said,  and  changed  the  subject,  as 
a  girl  would  blush  or  stammer." 

"  I  suspect  you  are  right."  He  rose  to 
let  her  pass.  His  eyes  laughed  down  into 
hers,  and  she  felt  the  sudden  content  of  a 
child  when  it  is  noticed  by  a  person  of  su 
perior  years  and  stature. 

"That  man  has  the  most  charming  eyes 


70       A   WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

I  ever  saw,"  she  said,  as  the  dining-room 
door  closed  behind  the  women.  "  I  don't 
believe  they  ever  could  be  sober." 

"Just  observe  his   lower   jaw,"  said  Mrs. 
Volney,  with  her  infantile  lisp. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

WHEN  the  men  left  the  dining-room 
they  found  the  women  in  the 
patio,  or  scattered  about  the  cor 
ridor.  There  was  no  moon,  but  the  clear 
sky  blazed  with  stars,  and  colored  lanterns 
swung  between  the  pillars  or  among  the  broad 
leaves  of  the  palm-trees.  The  girls  (the 
married  women  were  little  more)  had  thrown 
lace  or  silken  scarves  over  their  heads,  and 
fluttered  their  fans  idly.  Clive  recalled  all 
he  had  read  of  the  old  time,  and  imagined 
himself  back  among  the  careless  dons  and 
donas  who  lived  for  little  but  pleasure,  and 
had  not  a  prescience  of  the  complex  civil 
ization  to  enter  their  Arcadia  and  rout  its 
very  memory. 

Miss  Belmont  was  sitting  on  the  corridor, 
leaning  over  the   low  balustrade,  her  hands 


72       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

lightly  clasped.  She  had  draped  a  white 
lace  mantilla  about  her  head,  and  looked 
more  Spanish  than  Miss  West.  It  seemed 
to  Clive  that  she  had  a  faculty  of  looking 
whatever  she  wished.  Some  one  handed 
her  a  guitar.  She  leaned  against  the  pillar 
and  tuned  it  absently.  Clive  walked  over 
and  stood  staring  down  on  her,  his  hands  in 
his  pockets.  She  sang,  in  a  rich  contralto 
voice,  a  Spanish  song,  whose  words  he  could 
not  understand,  but  which  was  the  most 
passionate  he  had  ever  heard.  Her  head 
was  thrown  back.  She  sang  frankly  to 
Clive ;  her  face  changed  with  every  line. 

When  it  was  over,  Mrs.  Cartright  breathed 
a  plaintive  sigh.  "  That's  the  handsomest 
song  that  Helena  sings,  "  she  announced. 

Helena  arose  abruptly.  "Come,"  she 
said  to  Clive.  "Let  us  go  for  a  walk." 

He  followed  her  out  into  the  rose-garden. 
There  were  no  lanterns  here,  and  it  looked 
wilder  than  by  day.  The  air  was  very 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       73 

warm  and  sweet.  Helena  plucked  one  of  the 
pink  Castilian  roses,  and  fastened  back  her 
mantilla  with  it,  exposing  a  charming  ear. 

"  You  will  never  find  any  occupation  so 
becoming  to  your  hands,"  said  Clive  duti 
fully.  "Are  your  feet  as  perfect  ?  " 

"  They  are  something  to  dream  of,"  said 
Miss  Belmont  flippantly. 

They  went  out  on  to  the  terrace.  The 
ocean  pounded  monotonously,  tossing  spray 
high  into  the  air.  Clive  looked  at  his  com 
panion.  Her  head  was  thrown  back,  her 
lips  were  slightly  apart.  She  looked  like  a 
woman  who  held  a  ball  of  fire  between  her 
finger-tips,  and  toyed  with  it  caressingly. 

"  Shall  we  walk  along  the  cliffs  ?  " 

She  hesitated  a  moment.  "  No  ;  let  us 
go  into  the  forest." 

As  they  entered  they  were  greeted  by 
a  rush  of  cool,  perfumed  air,  the  scent  of 
wild  lilac  and  lily,  the  strong,  bracing  odor 
of  redwood  and  pine.  For  a  hundred  yards 


74       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

or  more  there  was  little  brush  ;  the  great 
trees  stood  far  apart ;  but  as  they  left  the 
plateau  and  ascended  a  narrow  trail,  the 
young  redwoods  and  ferns  and  lilacs  grew 
thick.  It  was  a  hard  pull  and  they  said 
little.  He  helped  her  up  the  almost  per 
pendicular  ascent,  over  fallen  trees  and 
rocks,  and  huge  roots  springing  across  the 
path  like  pythons,  and  wondered  if  they 
were  penetrating  wilds  hitherto  sacred  to 
the  red  man.  Presently  the  low  roar  of 
water  greeted  them,  and  pushing  their  way 
through  a  small  grove  of  ferns  they  came 
upon  the  high  bank  of  a  broad  creek.  Be 
yond  and  around  rose  the  dark,  rigid  forest, 
but  into  the  opening  the  stars  flung  plen 
tiful  light.  They  revealed  the  clear  rapid 
rush  of  water  over  huge  stones  and  logs  that 
looked  like  living  things,  great  bunches  of 
maiden-hair  springing  from  dripping  boul 
ders,  the  dark,  mysterious  perspective  of  the 
creek. 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.        75 

Clive  did  not  wonder  if  he  would  lose  his 
head.  He  had  no  intention  of  keeping 
it. 

"  Sit  down,"  she  said,  arranging  herself 
on  a  fallen  pine  and  leaning  against  a  red 
wood.  Clive  made  himself  as  comfortable 
as  he  could,  and  she  gave  him  permission  to 
light  his  pipe. 

The  lace  mantilla,  in  spite  of  brush  and 
briar,  still  clung  to  her  head  and  shoulders. 
She  looked  very  lovely  and  womanly. 

"  Why  did  you  bring  me  here  ?  "  he  asked. 
"You  told  me  the  other  night  that  you 
would  never  trust  yourself  alone  with  me. 
This  is  equivalent  to  saying  that  you  want 
me  to  make  love  to  you.  I  am  quite  ready." 

"  How  brutally  abrupt  you  are.  I  don't 
want  you  to  make  love  to  me.  I  meant  to 
tell  you  before  we  started  that  I  did  not 
expect  it.  Most  women  do,  I  know,  and  it 
must  be  such  a  relief  to  a  man  to  be  let  off 
occasionally."  She  opened  and  closed  her 


76       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

large  fan,  with  a  graceful  motion  of  the  wrist, 
and  then  turned  and  looked  straight  at  him. 

"  I  have  never  walked  alone  with  a  man 
in  this  forest  before,"  she  said  ;  "  neither  at 
night  nor  in  the  daytime.  It  would  have 
been  spoiled  for  me  if  I  had." 

He  pulled  at  his  pipe.  "  You  are  a  very 
brave  woman.  If  what  you  say  is  true,  what 
is  your  reason  for  bringing  me  here?" 

"  I  felt  a  desire  to  do  so,  and  I  always  obey 
my  whims." 

"You  know  that  my  vanity  is  touched  to 
the  quick.  But  will  you  tell  me  why  you  are 
doing  all  you  can  to  turn  my  head,  if  you 
don't  want  me  to  make  love  to  you  ?" 

"  I  do  want  you  to." 

Clive  laid  down  his  pipe. 

"  No  !  It  would  be  a  pity  to  let  it  go  out, 
and  it  might  set  my  forest  on  fire.  Do  let 
me  finish.  Women  are  not  like  men.  A 
man  is  fascinated  by  a  woman,  and  his  one 
impulse  is  to  get  at  her,  and  without  loss  of 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       77 

time ;  a  woman  may  have  the  same  impulse, 
but  the  dislike  of  being  won  too  quickly, 
the  desire  to  be  sure  of  herself,  above  all, 
the  wish  to  make  the  man  more  serious — all 
these  things  hold  her  back.  So  I  don't  want 
you  to  make  love  to  me  to-night." 

"  Which  means  that  I  may  later?" 

"  I  don't  know.  That  will  depend  on  a 
good  many  things,  one  of  which  is  whether 
I  break  my  engagement  with  Schuyler  Van 
Rhuys  or  not.  I  have  some  slight  sense  of 
honor." 

Clive  colored  hotly,  and  for  the  moment 
his  ardor  left  him. 

"  Are  you  thinking  of  breaking  it  off  ?  " 

"Somewhat." 

"  Is  it  true  that  you  have  been  engaged 
fifteen  times?" 

"  No  ;  only  eight.  I  have  not  yet  dis 
covered  that  there  are  fifteen  interesting  men 
in  the  world.  I  have  only  met  nine." 

"  You  can  flatter  charmingly.      But  you 


78       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

say  you  have  a  sense  of  honor.  What  would 
you  think  of  a  man  who  deceived  and  jilted 
eight  girls  ?" 

"  It  is  quite  different  with  a  man  :  women 
are  so  helpless.  But  when  a  woman  has  the 
reputation  of  being  fickle,  men  know  what 
to  expect  and  propose  with  their  eyes  open. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  is  not  an  atom  of 
the  flirt  in  me ;  of  coquetry,  perhaps,  for  I 
have  an  irrepressible  desire  to  please  the 
man  who  has  pleased  me.  To  most  men  I 
am  clay.  I  am  doing  all  I  can  to  fascinate 
you,  and  I  shall  continue  to  do  so.  I  engaged 
myself  to  each  of  those  eight  men,  honestly 
believing  that  I  could  love  him — that  I  had 
found  a  companion.  If  I  ever  suffered  the 
delusion  that  any  one  of  them  was  my  grande 
passion,  the  delusion  was  brief.  Still,  I  gave 
up  all  idea  of  that  some  years  ago.  With 
each  cf  those  men  I  set  myself  honestly  to 
work  to  get  into  sympathy,  and  to  love  him. 
Of  course,  you  will  understand  that  I  had 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       79 

been  more  or  less  fascinated  in  each  case. 
If  a  man  has  not  magnetism  for  me,  he 
might  have  every  other  quality  given  to  mor 
tal,  and  he  would  not  attract  my  passing  inter 
est.  Well,  I  could  not  find  anything  in  any 
one  of  them  to  get  hold  of.  One  cannot 
love  a  clever  mind,  nor  personal  magnetism, 
nor  a  charming  trick  of  manner,  nor  a  kind 
heart  ;  nor  all.  There  is  something  else. 
One  hates  to  be  sentimental,  but  I  suppose 
what  those  men  have  lacked  is  soul,  Our 
men  don't  seem  to  have  time  for  that.  It 
isn't  in  the  make-up  of  this  country.  Per 
haps  I  haven't  it ;  but,  at  all  events,  I  have  a 
mental  conception  of  it,  and  know  that  it  is 
what  I  want." 

Clive  puffed  at  his    pipe  for  a  moment. 

"  Are    you  talking  pretty  nonsense, "  he 
asked,  "  or  do  you  mean  that  ?  " 

She  turned  her  head  away  angrily. 

"  You  are  just  like  other  men  "  she  said. 
"  I  have  always  been  laughed  or  stared  at 


8o       A   WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

by  every  man  I  have  ever  had  the  courage 
to  broach  the  subject  to.  I  was  a  fool  to 
speak  to  you.  It  is  two  or  three  years  since 
I  let  myself  go  like  this.  " 

"  I  am  not  laughing.  It  is  a  very  serious 
subject :  the  most  serious  in  life.  Girls  and 
men  and  minor  poets  are  always  prating  of 
it,  but  it  is  a  good  subject  to  keep  quiet 
about  until  you  understand  it." 

"  Don't  you  think  I  understand  about 
it?" 

"  I  think  you  will  some  time — yes,  cer 
tainly.  And  you  had  better  not  marry  Mr. 
Van  Rhuys." 

"  We  are  so  new,"  she  said,  leaning  her 
elbows  on  her  knees,  her  chin  on  her  clasped 
hands.  "  It  is  as  if  the  Almighty  had  flung 
a  lot  of  brilliant  particles  together,  which 
cohered  symmetrically,  and  so  quickly  that 
the  spiritual  essence  of  the  universe  had  no 
time  to  crawl  inside.  I  stayed  here  last 
winter  by  myself  trying  to  solve  the  prob- 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.        81 

lem  of  life,  but  I  only  addled  my  brain.  I 
read  and  read  and  read,  and  thought  and 
thought  and  thought,  and  in  the  end  I  felt 
sadder,  but  not  wiser." 

"You  can't  find  it  alone." 

She  flushed  and  he  saw  her  eyes  deepen. 

"Then  Schuyler  Van  Rhuys  turned  up, 
and  I  concluded  that  the  best  thing  I  could 
do  was  to  go  to  New  York  and  cut  a  dash 
in  the  smart  set.  And  he  is  such  a  good 
fellow.  He  would  fight  superbly  if  there 
were  a  war  ;  he  would  carry  me  safely  out  of 
a  mob  :  he  would  always  be  kind,  and  in  a 
manner  companionable,  for  he  is  well  up  on 
affairs  and  current  art  and  literature.  I 
should  like  you  to  know  him,  for  he  is  one 
of  the  best  types  of  American  you  will  ever 
meet.  But — there  is  nothing  else.  And  I 
am  the  stronger  of  the  two.  There  is  noth 
ing  as  solitary  as  that." 

"  Don't  marry  him.  You  have  no  excuse 
—at  your  age  and  with  your  brain,  Wait 


82       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

until  you  find  the  right  man,  even  if  it  is  a 
million  years  hence." 

"  Oh,  I've  heard  that—  -"  She  paused 
abruptly.  "It  isn't  like  you  to  talk  exag 
gerated  nonsense.  What  did  you  mean  by 
that  last  ?  " 

"What  I  said." 

Her  lip  curled.  "You  don't  mean  to  say 
that  you  believe  in  a  life  after  this — 
you." 

"  Why  not  ?  " 

"  Well,  do  explain." 

"  I  don't  see  why  any  belief  of  mine  should 
interest  you." 

"  But  it  does.     Tell  me  !  " 

"This  not  my  hour  for  lecturing.  I'd 
much  rather  talk  about  you." 

"  Oh,  please  don't  be  unhumanly  modest. 
Go  on,  you've  roused  my  curiosity  now,  and 
I  will  know  what  you  think." 

"  Very  well.  Not  being  an  unreasoning 
oyster,  I  believe  in  a  future  state.  Not  in 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       83 

the  old-fashioned  business,  of  course  ;  but 
if  a  man  has  ever  thought,  and  if  he  has  had 
two  or  three  generations  of  thinking  ances 
tors  behind  him,  he  hardly  believes  that 
the  scheme  of  creation  is  so  purposeless  as 
to  turn  people  of  progressive  development 
loose  on  one  unsatisfactory  plane,  only. " 
Clive  spoke  rapidly  when  he  spoke  at  length, 
but  paused  abruptly  every  now  and  again, 
then  resumed  without  impulsion.  "  What 
would  be  the  object?  What  the  meaning ? 
Everything  else  in  the  scheme  of  creation 
has  a  meaning,  leads  to  something  defi 
nite.  .  .  .That  is  the  significance  of  the  lack 
of  soul  you  search  for  in  a  race  of  men  that 
have  not  yet  had  time  to  develop  it — who 
are  yet  surely  progressing  toward  such  a 
consummation.  .  .  .  On  this  earth  it  takes 
generations  of  leisure,  of  art,  of  literature, 
of  science,  but  mainly  of  individual  thinking, 
to  develop  the  subtle  combination  which  puts 
man  in  relation  with  the  divine  principle  in 


84       A   WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

the  universe.  The  pre-eminent  development 
of  England  over  all  the  other  nations  is  as  in 
disputable  as  it  is  natural.  What  would  be 
the  object  of  such  mental  and  spiritual  devel- 
ment  if  this  incomplete  life  of  ours  were  all  ? 
We  go  on  afterward,  of  course  ;  ascending  by 
slow  and  laborious  evolution,  from  plane  to 
plane." 

"And  about  the  other  thing?  You 
believe  that  in  one  existence  or  another 
you  meet  the  person  who  satisfies  you  in  all 
things — your  other  part  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  two  in  a  century  meet  in  this 
existence.  But  most  of  us  don't — for  cen 
turies.  Perhaps  millions  of  centuries.  Time 
is  nothing.  Your  man  may  not  be  born 
here  for  several  centuries — but  you  will  find 
him  some  time.  And  when  you  do,  you 
and  he  will  become  biunial — one  in  a  sense 
that  I  believe  passes  all  understanding  here 
— except,  perhaps,  that  of  the  one  or  two 
fortunate  ones  of  each  century  or  so.  .  .  , 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       85 

The  ancients  had  some  such  idea  when 
they  took  Eve  out  of  Adam." 

Helena  rose  and  went  to  the  edge  of  the 
creek.  She  stood  there  without  speaking 
for  ten  minutes,  kicking  the  stones  down  in 
to  the  water.  Then  she  turned  about. 

"  I  have  always  looked  upon  that  sort  of 
thing  as  poetical  rot,"  she  said;  "beneath 
the  consideration  of  any  one  of  the  higher 
order  of  intelligence ;  probably  because  in 
this  country,  particularly  in  this  State,  every 
thing  occult,  except  religion,  and  sometimes 
that,  is  enveloped  fifteen  times  over  in  vul 
gar  and  mercenary  fraud.  Even  well  writ 
ten  treatises  on  such  subjects  have  never 
interested  me — my  American  intolerance  of 
anything  which  cannot  be  demonstrated,  I 
suppose.  But  if  a  man  like  you  believes, 
it  makes  one  think." 

She  came  and  sat  close  beside  him  on  the 
log,  her  gown  brushing  his  feet. 

"  It  is  true—  "  she  began. 


86       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

"This  is  hardly  fair,  you  know,"  said 
Clive. 

"  What  ? " 

"You  know  as  well  as  I  do.  If  I  am  not 
to  make  love  to  you — and  in  a  way  you  have 
placed  me  on  my  honor — go  and  sit  at  the 
other  end  of  the  log." 

"  Pshaw  !  After  what  you  have  just  said, 
you  should  be  above  such  things." 

"  I  am  not  a  spirit  yet,  please  remember. 
And  I  am  not  by  any  means  so  highly  de 
veloped  as  I  ought  to  be.  If  you  don't  go 
away  I  shall  take  hold  of  you." 

Helena  went  back  to  her  former  position. 

"  The  Delilah  becomes  you,"  he  pursued, 
"  until  one  realizes  that  it  is  not  you  at  all. 
You  look  the  most  womanly  of  women  now 
that  you  have  forgotten  you  brought  me 
here  to  make  a  fool  of  me— 

"  I  did  not  !  Indeed,  I  did  not.  I 
brought  you  here  because  I  wanted  to  talk 
to  you  in  this  forest,  and  because  the  mo- 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       87 

ment  I  saw  you  I  recognized  something  in 
you  that  I  have  found  in  no  other  man." 

"  You  take  great  risks,  Miss  Belmont  ;  I 
should  seize  and  kiss  you  after  that  remark, 
and  you  know  it.  To-morrow  you  will 
think  me  an  ass  because  I  did  not,  and  I  am." 

"  I  want  to  talk  some  more  about  that 
thing.  I  thought  as  I  stood  by  the  creek, 
of  our  literature.  Has  it  occurred  to  you 
that  no  American  author  has  ever  written  a 
genuine  all-round  love  scene  ?  They  are 
either  thin  or  sensual,  almost  invariably  the 
former.  The  soul  and  passion  of  the  older 
races  they  have  never  developed.  If  a 
woman  writer  breaks  out  wildly  sometimes, 
she  merely  voices  the  lack  we  all  feel  in  this 
section  of  the  world — in  life  as  well  as  liter 
ature.  That  explains  why  I  have  tried  to 
care  for  eight  clever  and  interesting  men 
and  turned  away  chilled." 

"  You  must  love  an  Englishman/'  said 
Clive,  smiling.  "  If  you  notice,  a  good  many 


88       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

American  women  do.  An  Englishwoman 
never  marries  an  American.  It  goes  to  prove 
what  I  said  a  little  while  ago  :  leisure  is 
needed  for  development ;  consequently  the 
women  of  America  have  developed  far  more 
rapidly  than  the  men." 

"  Don't  imagine  for  a  moment  that  I  am 
disparaging  my  own  country,"  said  Helena 
hurriedly ;  "  I  am  the  best  American  in  the 
world — I  wouldn't  be  anything  else  ;  and  I 
like  and  admire  our  men  for  their  cleverness 
and  pluck  and  wonderful  go-aheadness.  But 
I  will  confide  to  you  something  that  I  have 
never  told  a  living  soul — I  have  such  a  con 
tempt  for  the  Anglomaniac  that  I  have  a 
horror  of  being  taken  for  one.  It  is  this: 
something  English  in  me  has  survived 
through  five  generations.  I  was  brought  up 
in  a  library  of  English  literature;  perhaps 
that  fostered  it.  As  long  as  I  merely  read 
and  studied,  I  lived  in  imagination  among 
English  scenes  and  people — the  people  of 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       89 

your  history  and  those  created  by  your  au 
thors  and  poets.  Something  in  me  responded 
to  every  line  that  I  read  ;  I  felt  at  home  ; 
singularly  enough  much  more  so  than  when 
I  finally  visited  England.  Until  a  few  years 
ago  I  could  not  force  myself  to  read  Ameri 
can  literature — with  the  sole  exception  of 
Bret  Harte.  It  is  so  cold,  so  slight,  so  for 
bidding.  It  is  the  piano  of  letters.  Now, 
of  course,  I  appreciate  the  mentality  in  it  and 
the  delicate  art,  the  light  rapid  sketches  of 
passing  phases.  And  it  seems  to  me  that 
before  we  produce  a  Shakspere  or  Byron  we 
shall  have  to  relapse  into  barbarism,  and 
emerge  and  develop  by  slow  and  sure  stages 
to  the  condition  of  England  when  she  evolved 
her  great  men.  We  have  gone  ahead  too 
fast  to  ever  become  great  from  our  present 
beginnings  ;  we  are  all  brilliant  shallows  and 
no  depths." 

"  You  disprove  a  good  deal  that  you  say." 
Helena  bent    forward,  pressing  her  chin 


9o       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

hard  into  the  palm  of  her  hand.  She  had 
forgotten  that  she  was  a  beautiful  woman, 
but  even  so  she  was  graceful. 

"  If  we  Californians  have  a  stronger  fibre 
and  richer  blood  in  us  than  other  Americans," 
she  replied,  "  it  is  because  we  are  cruder,  sav- 
ager,  close  to  nature.  I  do  things  that  no 
Eastern  girl  in  the  same  social  position  would 
even  think  of  doing,  much  less  dare  ;  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  I  have  a  better  chance  of 
getting  what  I  want  out  of  life,  for  I  go 
straight  for  it,  undeterred  by  any  traditions 
or  scruples.  And  I  have  more  to  give." 

She  paused  and  Clive  filled  and  lit  another 
pipeful  of  tobacco. 

"  You  take  great  satisfaction  out  of  that 
pipe,"  she  said  pettishly. 

"  It  is  my  only  safeguard." 

She  laughed  and  he  could  see  her  flush. 

"  I  suppose  that  English  something  in  me, 
which  has  survived,  was  what  sprang  so 
instantly  to  you — recognition." 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.        91 

"  You  have  been  in  England,  and  you  have 
met  many  Englishmen." 

"  I  have  liked  some  of  them  tremendously, 
although  I  never  would  admit  it,  and  always 
bullyragged  them ;  that  mixture  of  subtlety 
and  brutality  is  very  attractive.  But  it  was 
not  the  same — not  by  any  means." 

"  You  force  me  to  repeat  that  you  take 
very  great  risks." 

"  No,  no,"  she  said  plaintively.  "  How 
could  I  ?  I  am  not  what  you  imagine  me. 
But  I  must  stay  here  and  talk  to  you." 

They  talked  until  the  night  turned  grey, 
drifting  no  more  toward  personalities.  Then 
Clive  looked  at  his  watch. 

"  Do  you  know  what  time  it  is  ?" 

"  I  do  not  in  the  least  care." 

"It  is  three  o'clock.  And  I  can  see  that 
you  are  tired.  Come  !  " 

She  rose  and  he  jerked  her  shawl  across 
her  chest  and  threw  one  end  over  her  shoul 
der.  "  What  a  silly  child  you  are  to  come 


92       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

out  with  that  bare  neck.  Aren't  you 
chilled?" 

She  smiled  up  at  him  as  gratefully  as  if 
unused  to  the  tender  care  of  man. 

They  went  down  the  mountain  without 
conversation  ;  it  was  very  dark  and  steep  ; 
a  misstep  might  have  sent  one  or  both 
headlong. 

The  house  was  without  lights ;  even  the 
lanterns  on  the  corridors  had  burned  out. 
As  they  entered  the  court  a  man  rose  from 
a  long  chair,  yawning  and  stretching  him 
self.  It  was  Charley  Rollins. 

"  My  God,  Helena  !  "  he  exclaimed,  "this 
is  going  too  far.  You  know  that  all  of  us 
who  know  you  swear  by  you,  but  you  can't 
do  this  sort  of  thing  with  such  women  as 
Mrs.  Volney  and  Harriet  Lord  in  the 
house.  Sitting  up  all  night  under  a  tree  in 
full  view  of  all  Del  Monte  is  one  thing,  but 
the  middle  of  a  forest,  where  you  have 
never  taken  a  man  in  the  daytime  before — 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       93 

for  heaven's    sake,  my   dear  child,  have  a 
care." 

He  ended  rather  feebly  ;  for  Helena  had 
brought  down  her  foot  and  thrown  back  her 
head  with  flashing  eyes.  "  I  shall  do  exactly 
what  I  choose  to  do,"  she  cried.  "  And  I 
hope  Amy  Volney  and  Harriet  Lord  have 
their  heads  out  of  their  doors  this  minute. 
What  business  is  it  of  yours,  I  should  like 
to  know?  How  dare  you  take  me  to  task? 
Take  Mr.  Clive  over  to  the  dining-room, 
and  give  him  some  brandy,  and  then  go 
home  ;  or  stay  all  night  if  you  choose  ;  there 
are  two  empty  rooms  at  the  corner.  Good 
night,  Mr.  Clive."  And  without  taking  fur 
ther  notice  of  Rollins  she  crossed  over  to 
the  opposite  corridor  and  disappeared. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CLIVE    and    Rollins    exchanged    few 
words    on    the    drive   home.     Miss 
Belmont's  name  was  not  mentioned. 
Clive's  feelings  were  mixed.     He  candidly 
admitted  that  his  vanity  was  profoundly  at 
peace  with  itself,  and  that  Helena  Belmont 
was  the  most  interesting  woman  he  had  ever 
met.     Nevertheless,  his  conscience  chattered 
at  his  vanity  like  an  angry  monkey  at  a  pea 
cock. 

"I  feel  exactly  like  a  delinquent  husband," 
he  thought.  "  Premonitory,  I  suppose.  I 
have  an  absurdly  married  feeling  ;  the  re 
sult  of  a  long  engagement,  probably,  and  a 
lifelong  acquaintance.  ...  I  wonder  if  a 
man  ever  bothers  if  the  woman  is  not  likely 
to  find  him  out  ;  I  can't  say  it  has  ever  wor 
ried  me  much  before.  I  suppose  it's  on  the 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       95 

principle  that  what  a  woman  doesn't  know 
won't  hurt  her." 

Then  he  wondered  if  he  would  have  sat 
up  all  night  with  another  woman  had  he 
been  engaged  to  Helena  Belmont. 

He  made  his  confession  three  days  later, 
when  Mary  was  fully  recovered. 

She  smiled  a  little  sadly,  the  smile  which 
seems  to  belong  to  the  lips  of  such  women, 
fashioned  to  be  good  wives  and  mothers, 
and  nothing  more.  She  put  up  her  hand 
and  touched  his  hair  shyly  ;  she  seldom  car 
essed  him. 

"  She  is  always  sitting  up  all  night  with 
some  one  or  other.  It  seems  to  be  a  fad  of 
hers.  And  you  know  I  trust  you  absolute 
ly."  (He  had  the  grace  to  blush.)  "  But, 
I  think,  if  you  don't  mind,  that  I'll  announce 
the  engagement." 

"Why  of  course  I  don't  mind,"  he  said, 
taken  aback.  "It  was  your  idea  to  keep  it 
quiet,  not  mine." 


96       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

"Yes  ;  but  I  think  I'd  like  her  to  know." 

As  Clive  left  the  cottage  he  met  Rollins. 

"  I  have  something  to  tell  you,  old  chap," 
he  said  awkwardly.  "  I  want  you  to  con 
gratulate  me.  I  am  engaged  to  Miss  Gor 
don." 

"The  devil  you  are  !"  exclaimed  Rollins 
slapping  him  on  the  back,  "  I  do  congratulate 
you,  old  fellow,  she's  a  jewel  of  a  girl.  Go 
ing  to  marry  here  ?  " 

"Yes,  in  San  Francisco." 

"  The  club  will  give  you  a  send-off  the 
night  before.  You  won't  look  as  handsome 
on  your  wedding-morn  as  you  otherwise 
might,  and  you'll  have  a  dark  brown  taste 
in  your  mouth,  but  in  a  long  period  of 
domestic  bliss  you'll  have  a  great  joy  to  look 
back  upon." 

They  walked  down  to  the  camp  together, 
then  Rollins  left  abruptly,  and  returning  to 
Yorba  went  to  the  telephone  office. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ELENA  BELMONT  saw  little  of 
her  company  for  two  days.  She 
spent  part  of  the  time  in  the  forest, 
the  rest  in  her  boudoir,  a  long  room  at  the 
east  side  of  the  house  opening  into  her  bed 
room  at  one  end  and  into  a  small  library  at 
the  other.  The  bedroom  was  a  pretty  thing 
of  pale  pink  and  green,  and  white  lace. 
The  library,  lined  from  floor  to  ceiling  with 
books,  many  several  genera'tions  old,  had 
only  a  rug  on  the  bare  floor,  a  table  and 
several  upright  chairs.  The  walls  of  the 
boudoir  were  panelled  with  the  beautiful 
delicately-veined  redwood  the  forest  trees 
conceal  under  their  forbidding  bark.  The 
ceiling  was  arched  and  heavily  beamed. 
The  curtains  of  doors  and  windows,  the 
deep  chairs  and  couches,  the  rugs  on  the 
dark  floor  were  of  Smyrna  stuffs  whose  only 


98       A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

tangible  color  was  a  red  that  was  almost 
black.  A  redwood  mantel  was  built  to  the 
ceiling  ;  a  large  table  of  the  same  wood, 
heavily  carved,  was  covered  with  books  and 
costly  trifles.  The  deep  window  seats  were 
also  upholstered.  The  Castilian  roses  nod 
ded  against  the  pane,  but  Helena  could 
look  above  the  garden  wall  into  the  forest 
on  the  mountain. 

And  here  Helena  sat  for  hours.  She  was 
profoundly  stirred  and  touching  lightly  the 
keys  of  something  akin  to  happiness.  Sev 
eral  times  before  in  her  life  she  had  felt  what 
she  believed  to  be  the  quickening  of  love ; 
but  it  had  died  in  its  swaddling  clothes,  and 
had  been  a  vagary  of  the  fancy  to  this.  Her 
brain  and  her  woman's  instinct  told  her  uner 
ringly  that  she  had  found  the  man.  Every 
part  of  her  went  out  to  him.  A  faint  sweet 
something  tipped  her  pulses.  It  is  possible 
that  passion  was  regnant  at  this  time  ;  that 
she  was  possessed  by  the  savage  primitive 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.       99 

desire  of  the  first  woman  for  the  first  man  ; 
so  far  she  had  come  in  contact  with  little 
beyond  the  man's  powerful  personality  and 
responsive  magnetism.  Nevertheless  there 
had  been  spiritual  recognition,  blind  and 
groping  as  it  may  have  been ;  certain  torpid 
instincts  stirred,  and  she  divined  vaguely 
what  a  woman  might  be  to  her  husband. 
She  had  known  many  married  women  more 
or  less  intimately,  been  the  confidant  of  more 
than  one  liaison  ;  and  with  intuition  fostered 
by  such  knowledge  and  her  own  strong  brain, 
she  rejoiced  that  she  had  met  him  in  time, 
divining  something  of  the  bitter  sadness 
which  companions  a  woman,  who,  meeting 
a  man  too  late,  must  be  one  thing  to  him, 
instead  of  twenty :  his  wife  would  still  have 
the  better  part  of  his  life,  his  higher  nature, 
his  duty,  the  supreme  happiness  of  making 
his  home. 

She  dreamed  dreams  of  her  future  with 
Clive  :  the  love  and  the  art  by  which  she 


ioo    A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

would  hold  him,  the  companionship.  She 
forgot  Mary  Gordon's  existence.  Had  she 
remembered,  she  would  have  imperiously  dis 
missed  the  very  thought  of  her.  She  had 
obtained  what  she  wanted  all  her  life,  and 
recognized  no  obstacles. 

She  went  up  to  the  log  by  the  creek  and 
touched  caressingly  the  tree  against  which 
he  had  leaned,  gathered  some  of  the  ashes 
from  his  pipe  and  held  them  in  the  hollow 
of  her  hand.  She  smiled  as  she  did  so  and 
wondered  that  clever  women  and  silly  women 
should  be  so  little  dissimilar  when  in  love. 

It  was  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day 
that  the  Chinese  butler  tapped  at  her  door, 
and  said — 

"Mr.  Lollins  wantee  you  at  telephone, 
missee." 

"  Oh,  tell  somebody  else  to  answer  him. 
I  am  tired  of  the  very  sound  of  that  telephone. 
Some  one  is  at  it  all  day.  I've  a  great  mind 
to  have  it  taken  out," 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     101 

"Allight,  missee." 

A  few  moments  later  he  returned. 

"  Mr.  Lollins  slay  he  got  something  velly 
important  tellee  missee." 

Helena  went  rapidly  to  the  little  room  by 
the  front  door  sacred  to  the  telephone.  The 
fear  shook  her  that  something  had  happened 
to  Clive. 

She  sat  down  by  the  table  and  rang  the 
bell. 

11  Halloo  !  "  she  said  faintly. 

"Halloo,  Helena!  is  that  you?"  came 
Rollins'  hearty,  reassuring  voice. 

"Yes.  What  do  you  want  ?  I  wish  you 
wouldn't  bother  me." 

"Awfully  sorry,  but  I've  a  piece  of  news 
for  you — a  corker." 

"  Well." 

"  It's  about  your  Englishman." 

"  My  Englishman  ?  What  Englishman  ? 
What  nonsense  are  you  talking  ?  " 

"Oh,  come    off.     I've    terrible    news  for 


102     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

you.  I've  just  congratulated  him.  He's 
mortgaged." 

"  I  wish  you  would  not  talk  slang  over 
the  telephone.  I  suppose  you  mean  he's 
engaged  to  Mary  Gordon." 

"That's  the  hard  cold  fact." 

"  Well,  please  congratulate  them  for  me. 
I'll  give  them  a  dinner.  I'll  write  a  note 
to-day— 

"  You'll  see  them  to-night.  I  hope  you 
haven't  forgotten  that  you  are  all  to  dine 
with  us." 

"  I  had  forgotten  it,  but  we'll  be  there." 

"  Great  Scott,  Helena  !  have  you  also  for 
gotten  that  this  is  our  last  night,  and  that 
you  asked  six  of  us  to  spend  a  week  with 
you  ?  Are  those  boys  still  there  ?  " 

"  They  are  ;  but  I'll  send  them  home  this 
minute.  I'm  awfully  sorry  I  forgot  it,  but 
everything  will  be  ready  for  you.  I'll  send 
a  wagon  over  for  your  traps  this  afternoon, 
and  the  char-a-banc  will  bring  you  back 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     103 

to-night.  Now,  clear  out,  I  have  a  great  deal 
to  attend  to." 

Helena  replaced  the  trumpet  carefully 
in  its  bracket,  then  leaned  her  elbows  on 
the  table  and  laughed.  The  one  sensation 
of  which  she  was  definitely  conscious  for 
the  moment  was  genuine  amusement.  She  re 
called  her  dreams,  her  picture  life  with  Clive, 
and  felt  a  fool ;  but  she  had  always  been 
able  to  laugh  at  herself,  and  she  did  so  now. 
In  a  little  while  she  went  into  the  corridors 
where  the  guests  were  dawdling  after  their 
morning  drive. 

"  Mes  enfants"  she  said,  blowing  a  kiss 
from  the  tips  of  her  fingers  to  each  of  the 
young  men  in  turn,  "  go  straightway  and 
pack  up.  You  are  to  go  home  on  the  4.10. 
I  asked,  a  week  ago,  six  of  the  club  men  to 
come  here  to-night,  and  you  must  vacate. 
And  what  do  you  think  ?  My  Englishman 
is  engaged  to  Mary  Gordon." 

She  ruffled   her  hair  with  a   tragic  little 


104     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

gesture,  threw  up  her  hands  and  disap 
peared. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  humor  died 
out  of  her.  In  its  wake  came  the  profound- 
est  depression  she  had  ever  known.  She 
looked  into  a  blank  and  colorless  future, 
realizing  that  a  woman  may  be  young  until 
fifty  if  it  is  still  her  privilege  to  seek  and 
wait  and  hope,  but  that  when  her  great  joy 
has  touched  and  passed  her,  she  has  buried  all 
that  is  best  of  her  youth. 

She  could  not  stay  in  her  rooms,  eloquent 
of  imaginings,  but  went  back  to  her  guests, 
and  clung  to  them  and  talked  of  what  inter 
ested  them,  and  had  never  been  more  hos 
pitable  and  charming ;  all  the  while 
mechanically  counting  the  years  and  months 
and  days  that  lay  ahead  of  her.  The  de 
pression  lasted  for  hours,  during  which  she 
wondered  if  the  weight  in  her  brain  was 
crushing  the  light  and  reason  out  of  it. 

And  then  the  devil  entered  into  her. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  girls  in  their  gayest  muslin  frocks, 
chaperoned  by  the  more  sedate  Mrs. 
Cartwright,  arrived  at  the  camp  at 
seven.  A  long  table  was  spread  under  the 
redwoods  near  the  bank  of  the  little  river,  in 
whose  falls  bottles  lay  cooling.  Clive  was 
the  only  other  guest.  Mary  Gordon  had 
been  asked  ;  but  although  she  had  accepted 
with  philosophy  much  that  was  Californian, 
the  informalities  of  the  Bohemian  Club  were 
more  than  she  could  stand.  Clive  had  been 
begged  to  go  alone  and  to  stay  as  late  as  he 
liked. 

Helena  wore  a  pink  muslin  frock,  her  hair 
in  a  loose  braid.  Her  eyes  were  dancing. 
She  looked  like  a  naughty  child,  and  chat 
tered  clever  nonsense,  apparently  in  the 
in  the  highest  of  spirits. 


io6     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

An  impromptu  band  played  softly  out  of 
sight  ;  one  could  hear  the  splashing  of  the 
river  and  the  faint  music  of  the  redwoods. 
Chinese  lanterns,  suspended  in  a  row  over 
the  table,  and  from  the  young  redwoods, 
gave  abundant  light.  It  was  a  very  informal 
dinner.  The  men  wore  flannel  shirts, 
smoked  when  it  pleased  them,  and  assumed 
any  attitude  conducive  to  comfort.  Clive 
tipped  back  his  chair  against  a  tree,  and  felt 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  rejoice  that  Mary  was 
not  present.  Every  man  waited  on  himself 
and  on  the  guests  of  honor.  Helena,  at  the 
head  of  the  table,  had  the  one  servant  con 
stantly  at  her  elbow.  It  was  her  tendency 
to  spoil  the  men  she  liked,  and  she  encour 
aged  her  Bohemians  in  all  their  transgres 
sions  ;  which  was  one  of  the  many  reasons 
why  they  liked  her  better  than  any  woman 
in  Calfornia. 

A  course  not  pleasing  her  taste,  she  called 
for  her  guitar  and  sang  for  them  a  rollick- 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     107 

ing  song  of  the  bull-fight.  Clive  leaned 
forward  on  the  table  and  watched  her  :  her 
nostrils  expanded  as  if  they  had  the  scent  of 
blood  in  them ;  she  curled  her  lips  under, 
clicking  her  teeth.  Her  eyes  had  not  wan 
dered  to  Clive  since,  upon  entering  the 
camp,  she  had  prettily  congratulated  him. 

"  Helena,  you  alarm  me,"  said  Rollins 
mildly,  when  she  finished.  "  I  haven't  seen 
you  look  as  wicked  as  you  do  to-night  for 
several  years.  You  would  give  a  stranger, 
Mr.  Clive  for  instance,  the  impression  that 
you  were  a  cruel  little  demon,  as  you  sing 
that  song.  Of  course  we  know  that  only 
heaven  in  its  infinite  mercy  lends  you  to  us 
for  a  little." 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Clive ! "  said  Helena  in  a  weary 
tone,  but  with  a  suspicious  alertness  of  eye, 
"  I  had  such  a  funny  experience  with  Mr. 
Clive,  the  other  night.  I  think  I'll  have  to 
tell  it."  She  threw  back  her  head  and 
laughed  infectiously :  "  Oh,  it  was  so  funny  ]" 


io8     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

Clive  experienced  an  uncomfortable  thrill. 
The  others  gave  her  immediate  attention. 

"Don't  hesitate  to  tell  us,  Helena,"  said 
Rollins.  "We  will  keep  your  confidence. 
And  have  mercy  on  our  curiosity ;  that 
adjective  is  so  vague." 

Helena  leaned  forward,  and  clasping  her 
hand  about  her  chin,  looked  at  the  company 
with  dancing  eyes, 

"  Probably  you  all  know,"  she  said,  "  that 
not  long  since  I  spent  five  hours  in  the  for 
est  alone  with  Mr.  Clive,  talking  in  the  mid 
night  hour.  Well,  you  don't  know  that  Mr- 
Clive  had  previously  told  me  that  if  he  ever 
sat  up  all  night  with  me  he  should  kiss  me, 
and  several  times  ;  so  when  I  took  him  to  the 
loneliest  spot  I  knew,  the  intimation  was 
that  I  expected  him  to  do  justice  to  his  prin 
ciples,  wasn't  it  ?  " 

"It  was,  Helena,"  said  Rollins,  with  an 
attempt  at  facetiousness,  "  and  I  hope  he  did. 
Served  you  right." 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     109 

"  Well,  he  did  not  !  And  I  sat  not  three 
feet  away  from  him  for  five  hours,  and  never 
looked  better.  H  ow  do  you  suppose  I  bluffed 
him  off?" 

"  Oh,  come  Helena  ! "  said  Rollins,  who 
was  beginning  to  feel  sorry  for  Clive. 

"You  know,"  she  continued,  tossing  her 
head  and  tapping  her  foot,  much  like  a 
spirited  race-horse,  "  I  have  always  said  I 
could  do  exactly  as  I  pleased  with  a  man, 
and  I  can.  So  it  pleased  me  to  play  chess 
with  an  Englishman,  whose  only  idea  of  the 
game  is  to  jump  over  the  board.  Well,  first 
I  mildly  remonstrated  with  him  ;  then  we  ar 
gued  the  matter,  quite  coolly,  for  he  smoked 
his  pipe,  and  Englishmen  are  usually  cool, 
you  know.  My  powers  of  persuasion  were 
not  very  effective.  Then  I  told  him  that  I 
was  engaged.  But  as  he  was,  too,  he  coul  .1 
not  see  the  force  of  my  remark.  Well,  you'd 
never  guess  in  the  wide  world  what  I  did  then. 
I  gently  led  him  off  on  to  the  subject  of 


no     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

religion,  and  he  preached  until  three  o'clock, 
and  forgot  all  about  wanting  to  kiss  me. 
Now,  I  call  that  sort  of  a  man  a  duffer ! " 
(with  an  affected  drawl.)  "  What  do  you 
think  about  it  ?  " 

There  was  an  intense  and  uncomfortable 
silence,  Then  Clive  pushed  back  his  chair 
abruptly.  He  walked  straight  up  to  Helena, 
lifted  her  from  her  seat,  pinioned  her  arms, 
and  kissed  her  while  one  could  count  thirty. 

The  men  sprang  to  their  feet.  Their  sym 
pathies  were  with  Clive,  but  she  was  their 
guest,  and  a  woman  ;  they  would  do  what 
ever  she  commanded. 

Clive  dropped  her  into  her  chair,  not  too 
gently. 

"  Sit  down,  gentlemen,"  she  said  serenely  • 
"  we  will  now  go  on  with  the  dinner." 


CHAPTER  X. 

MR.  VAN  RHUYS  returned  the  next 
morning.     Helena  and  several    of 
her  guests  drove  over  to  the  hotel 
station  to  meet  him.     The  train  was  not  due 
for  some  moments  after  their  arrival.     Hel 
ena  sprang  from  the  char-a-banc  and  ran  up 
the  hill  to  the  Gordon  cottage.     Clive  and 
Mary  came  out  to  meet  her. 

"  I  didn't  want  to  write  you  a  formal  note 
of  congratulation,  Miss  Gordon,"  she  said, 
smiling  charmingly.  "  I  hoped  to  see  you 
last  night  at  the  dinner.  I  am  so  sorry  you 

were  not  there.     It  was  a  most  interesting 
dinner." 

"  So  Mr.  Clive  told  me,"  said  Mary  in 
nocently.  "  You  are  very  kind,  dear  Miss 
Belmont." 

"  I  want  to  give   you  a  dinner.     To-mor- 


ii2     A   WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

row  ?     I  must   be    quick.     I  hear  my  train. 
Do  say  yes." 

"  I  am  so  sorry,  thank  you  so  much,  but  papa 
and  I  are  going  to  San  Francisco  to-morrow 
afternoon.  He  has  business,  and  my  dress 
maker  wants  me.  After  that  we  are  going 
to  pay  three  visits  in  San  Mateo  and  Menlo 
Park  ;  we  hoped  to  get  out  of  them,  but 
it  seems  we  can't,  and  papa  thinks  I'd  better 

go." 

"Oh!"  said  Helena.  "What  are  you 
going  to  do  with  Mr.  Clive  ?" 

"  That  is  the  question.  Of  course  he  will 
be  asked  too,  as  soon  as  they  know,  but  he 
hates  the  thought  of  it.  He  says  he  will 
stay  in  San  Francisco,  and  run  down  and 
see  me  occasionally,  but  I  hate  to  have  him 
there  at  this  time  of  the  year,  with  those 
winds  and  fogs.  I  want  him  to  stay  here 
and  be  comfortable.  It  is  such  a  rest  for 
him  after  that  long  trip." 

"  Miss  Gordon,  you  are  beginning  badly. 


"  SHE    KAN    DOWN    THE    HILL    AS    A    MAN    CAME    FORAYARD 
TO    MEET    HER." Page    1 '  1 J. 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     113 

You  will  spoil  him.  I  should  like  to  marry 
an  Englishman  just  for  the  pleasure  of 
bringing  him  up  in  the  way  he  should  he 
go.  Suppose  you  leave  him  in  my  charge. 
I  will  take  good  care  of  him,  and  see  that 
he  does  nothing  but  loaf."  She  turned  to 
Clive,  who  was  staring  at  her,  his  hands  in 
his  pockets,  his  lips  together. 

"  Come  over  and  stay  at  Casa  Norte.  You 
know  all  the  men,  and  they  will  love  to  have 
you." 

"  Oh,  do,  Owin,"  said  Mary.  "  They  are 
always  so  jolly  there,  and  I  shall  feel  much 
easier  about  you."  "  Very  well,"  said  Clive, 
"  I  will  go.  Thank  you." 

"  I'll  send  over  for  you  in  time  for  dinner. 
Will  that  be  right  ?  Oh,  my  train  !  my 
train.  What  will  Mr.  Van  Rhuys  think  of 
me  ?  Good-bye,  Miss  Gordon.  Hast  a  Icugo, 
Mr.  Clive." 

She  ran  down  the  hill  as  a  man  came  for 
ward  to  meet  her.  He  was  a  big  well-made 


H4     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

man  with  the  walk  and  carriage,  the  per 
fect  adjustment  of  clothes  which  distinguish 
the  fashionable  New  Yorker.  His  Dutch 
ancestry  showed  vaguely  in  his  face,  which 
was  fair  and  large,  and  roughly  modelled  ; 
but  the  clever  pleasant  eyes  were  American  ; 
the  deep  lines  about  them  betrayed  an  ex 
perience  of  life  which  reclaimed  the  face 
from  any  tendency  to  the  commonplace.  H  e 
looked  the  rather  blast  man  of  forty,  yet  full 
of  vitality  and  good-nature,  and  possessed  of 
all  the  brains  he  would  ever  need. 

His  eyes  deepened  as  he  took  Helena's 
hand. 

"  How  jolly  well  you  look,"  he  said,  with 
the  slight  affectation  of  accent  peculiar  to 
the  smart  New  Yorker.  "  I'm  awfully  glad 
to  see  you  again,  awfully." 

As  the  char-a-banc  drove  off,  the  girls 
leaned  out  and  waved  their  hands  to  Miss 
Gordon  and  Clive,  and  Van  Rhuys  was  told 
of  the  engagement. 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     115 

"  Good-looking  chap,"  he  said. 

"  Isn't  he?"  said  Helena  enthusiastically. 
"  I  sat  out  all  night  with  him,  just  for  the 
pleasure  of  looking  at  him." 

Van  Rhuys  frowned  and  turned  away. 
He  had  wished  more  than  once  that  Helena 
Belmont,  doubly  fascinating  as  her  uncon- 
ventionality  made  her,  had  been  brought  up 
in  New  York.  He  had  had  more  than  one 
spasm  of  premonitory  horror,  but  had  re 
minded  himself  that  none  knew  better  than 
she  how  to  be  grande  dame  if  she  chose. 

When  they  reached  the  house  he  went  to 
his  room  to  clean  up,  then  sought  Helena 
in  her  boudoir.  She  was  leaning  over  the 
back  of  a  chair,  tipping  it  nervously. 

"  I  want  to  say  something  right  away," 
she  said,  as  he  closed  the  door.  "  I  want 
you  to  release  me — I  cannot  marry  you." 

Van  Rhuys  pressed  his  lips  together  and 
half  closed  his  eyes.  But  he  merely  asked, 
"What  is  the  reason?" 


ii6     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

"  I  am  going  to  marry  Mr.  Clive." 
"  You  are  going  to  do  what  ? "  Van 
Rhuys'  eyes  opened  very  wide.  He  under 
stood  Helena  little,  and  one  of  her  enduring 
charms  was  her  quality  of  the  unexpected. 
"Are  you  speaking  of  the  man  who  is  en 
gaged  to  Miss  Gordon  ?" 

"Yes,  that  is  the  man.     I  am  not  joking." 
"  You  mean  that  you  are  going  to  try  to 
cut  that  poor  girl  out  ?  " 

"  I  mean  that  I  shall,"  said  Helena  passion 
ately.  "  He  is  the  only  man  that  I  have  ever 
really  wanted,  and  I  intend  to  have  him." 

"  It's  a  damned  dishonorable  thing  to 
do." 

"I  don't  care.  Honor's  nothing  but  an 
arbitrary  thing,  anyhow.  I'll  have  what  I 
want.  It  wasn't  necessary  for  me  to  tell 
you  this,  but  it  does  me  good  to  say  it  to 
somebody." 

"And  you  don't  care  whether  I  am  hurt 
or  not — nor  that  poor  girl  ?" 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     117 

"Oh,  I  don't  believe  I  do.  I  wish  I  did. 
I  feel  so  wicked — but  I  can't.  I  can't  care 
for  anything  else.  You  didn't  love  me  very 
much,  anyhow.  You  are  merely  in  love 
with  me." 

"  You  never  gave  me  the  chance.  I  have 
barely  kissed  you.  I  had  hoped  that  after  a 
while,  after  we  were  married,  it  might  be 
different.  You  have  fully  made  up  your 
mind?" 

"  All  the  mind  I've  got  is  in  it." 

"  Then  I  don't  see  that  there's  anything 
for  me  to  do,  but  go.  I  can't  hang  round 
here.  I'll  have  a  sudden  telegram  calling 
me  to  New  York.  Will  you  shake  hands  ?" 

She  came  forward  and  gave  him  her  hand. 
"Have  I  been  unfair?"  she  asked,  smiling. 
"  I  didn't  have  time  to  write,  and  at  least  I 
didn't  break  it  off  by  telephone,  as  I  did 
with  one  of  them." 

"You    have   behaved   with    the    utmost 
consideration,"  said  Van   Rhuys  dryly.      He 


n8     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

looked  at  her  a  moment.  "  Suppose  you 
fail  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Fail  ?  "  she  said  haughtily.  "  I  never 
fail.  There's  nothing  I'll  stop  at — nothing  ! 
nothing !  I  always  get  what  I  want.  I 
was  born  that  way." 

"  I  know ;  but  there  is  a  pretty  tough  sort 
of  fibre  in  some  Englishmen,  and  they  call 
it  honor.  Well,  good  luck  to  you.  And 
good-bye ;  I  shall  go  on  the  4.10." 


CHAPTER  XL 

CLIVE  drove  over  the  next  afternoon. 
He  sat  some  distance  from  Helena 
at  dinner,  and  afterward  she  and 
Mrs.  Lent  played  billiards  with  himself  and 
one  of  the  other  men  for  an  hour  ;  the  rest 
of  the  evening  was  passed  in  the  large  living- 
room,  where  Clive  listened  to  better  amateur 
music  than  he  had  ever  heard  before.  Some 
little  time  after  the  women  had  retired,  a 
Chinese  servant  entered  the  dining-room, 
where  the  men  were  drinking  brandy-and- 
soda,  and  said  to  Clive — 

"  Missee  Hellee  wantee  slee  you  in  blu- 
doir." 

"  What  ?"  asked  Clive  stupidly. 

"  Her  gracious  Majesty  is  pleased  to  sig 
nify  that  she  will  give  you  audience  in  her 
boudoir,"  said  Rollins,  who  stood  beside  him. 


120    A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

"  But  I  can't  go  to  her  room  at  this  hour, 
It's  one  o'clock." 

"  That  is  her  affair.  Besides,  no  one  else 
need  know.  Follow  the  Mongolian.  If  you 
don't  it's  like  her  to  come  here  and  order  you 
to  go." 

The  Chinaman  left  Clive  at  the  door  of 
the  boudoir.  The  room  was  empty  and 
dimly  lit.  The  air  was  heavy  with  the  scent 
of  the  roses  beyond  the  window.  Clive 
looked  up  into  the  forest.  The  aisles  were 
too  black  for  shadows,  although  the  huge 
trunks  were  defined.  The  mysterious  arbors 
above  sang  gently. 

Helena  came  out  of  her  bedroom  presently, 
closing  the  door  behind  her. 

Clive  went  to  meet  her.  "  Am  I  to  apol 
ogize  ?  "  he  asked.  "  I  shan't  mean  it  if  I  do. 
What  you  did  was  abominable." 

"  Don't  scold  me.  I  never  thought  I'd  do 
such  a  thing.  I  don't  know  what  possessed 
me." 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     121 

"  The  devil,  I  should  say.  But  I  hope  I'll 
never  see  you  in  that  mood  again.  You 
were  at  your  unloveliest.  You  came  near  to 
being  vulgar." 

"  I  was  quite  vulgar  and  you  know  it. 
Don't  let  us  say  any  more  about  it.  Sit 
down  here  in  the  window." 

The  window-seat  was  broad  and  deep  and 
heavily  cushioned.  They  made  themselves 
very  comfortable. 

"  You  can  light  your  pipe.  I  am  glad  you 
came — very  glad." 

"  I  ought  not  to  be  here  at  all.  I  was  an 
ungrateful  wretch  in  the  first  place  not  to  go 
where  I  ought  to  be  now,  and  a  weaker  one 
to  come  here." 

Helena  leaned  her  elbow  on  the  low  grat 
ing  and  looked  up  at  him.  There  was  neither 
childishness  nor  coquetry  in  her  eyes. 

"  But  I  am  glad."  She  paused  a  moment. 
"  I  have  sent  away  Mr.  Van  Rhuys." 

"  Mr.  Van  Rhuys  has  had  a  happy  escape 


122     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

— and  I  am  not  necessarily  uncomplimen 
tary  to  you." 

"  Why  didn't  you  tell  me  of  your  engage 
ment  to  Mary  Gordon  the  other  night  ? " 

"  Partly  because  she  asked  me  not  to,  partly 
because  I  didn't  think  it  would  interest  you." 

"You  are  very  modest." 

"  Would  it  have  interested  you  ?  " 

"  It  does — immensely.  What  an  irrepres 
sible  flirt  you  are  !  " 

"  Do  you  expect  me  to  sit  up  at  midnight 
with  a  pretty  woman,  and  not  flirt  with  her  ? 
Why  else  did  you  send  for  me  to  come  here  ?  " 

"  You  are  engaged  to  another  woman." 

"You  expect  no  man  to  remember  his  ob 
ligations  when  he  is  with  you,"  He  laid 
down  his  pipe  suddenly. 

"  Give  me  these  two  weeks,"  he  said  ;  "  I 
shall  never  meet  a  woman  like  you  again. 
If  you  will  forget  what  the  end  must  be,  I 
will." 

"  Why  is  it  that  Englishmen  are  always 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     123 

marrying  that  type  of  woman — and  always 
forgetting  their  obligations  ?  " 

"  Because  it  is  the  best  type  of  woman 
alive  and  the  hope  of  the  race.  Man  is  both 
the  victim  of  his  race  and  of  his  sex.  Woman 
is  only  the  victim  of  man — which  simplifies 
the  question  for  her." 

"  Do  you  love  Mary  Gordon?" 

"  Yes — very  much  indeed." 

"  Shall  you  always  love  her  ?  " 

"  I  think  so — more  and  more.  A  good 
woman  becomes  a  great  deal  to  a  man.  She 
may  lack  the  two  things  that  enthrall 
man  most,  passion  and  intellect ;  but  she 
shares  his  burdens  and  his  sorrows  ;  she 
never  fails  him  in  poverty  or  in  trouble  ; 
her  sympathy  is  as  ready  for  the  small  har- 
rowings  of  life  as  for  its  disasters.  She  sat 
isfies  the  domestic  instinct  which  is  in  every 
man — symbolizes  home  to  him.  She  bears 
his  children  and  gives  him  unfailing  submis 
sion  and  help."  Helena  pressed  her  fan 


i24     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

against  her  lips.   Something  stabbed  through 
her. 

"  A  clever  woman  could  give  you  all  that 
— and  more,"  she  said,  after  a  moment. 

"  No  ;  she  might  think  she  could,  in  the 
first  enthusiasm  of  love.  But  she  would 
not,  for  the  reason  that  she  would  exact  as 
much  in  return ;  and  a  man  has  so  little 
time." 

"  And  is  that  your  idea  of  happiness  ? " 
He  hesitated  a  moment.  "It  would  be  hard 
to  find  a  better.  There  are  plenty  of  clever 
and  attractive  women  a  man  can  always 
meet." 

"  That  is  not  what  I  asked  you.  You  an 
swered  for  the  race,  not  for  yourself.  Are 
you  afraid  of  being  disloyal  to  Mary  Gor 
don  ?  Well,  these  two  weeks  are  to  be  mine, 
not  hers.  If  you  will  not  be  frank  with  me 
how  are  we  to  know  each  other?  And  I 
will  keep  your  confidences.  Tell  me — is 
that  your  idea  of  happiness  ?  " 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     125 

"No,"  he  said.     "It  is  not." 

"Why  did  you  ask  her  to  marry  you — 
seeing  things  as  clearly  as  you  do  ?  There 
is  not  the  same  excuse  for  you  as  for  many 
men." 

"  Four  years  ago  I  had  thought  less.  And 
propinquity  is  a  strong  factor." 

"What  shall  you  do  when  you  meet  the 
one  woman  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know.  No  man  knows  before 
hand  what  he  will  do  in  any  circumstance. 
Perhaps  I  should  behave  like  a  scoundrel 
and  cut.  Perhaps  I  should  find  strength 
somewhere." 

"  What  is  the  use  of  strength  ?  What  do 
all  those  ideals  amount  to,  anyhow  ?  I  have 
often  had  the  most  exalted  longings,  a  desire 
for  something  better  and  higher,  I  hardly 
know  what.  And  I  have  always  asked — 
To  what  end  ?  Cui  bono  ?  " 

"  That  is  because  you  believe  that  the 
mystery  of  your  nature  means  nothing  ;  that 


126     A   WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

the  blind  striving  of  millions  of  beings  for 
spiritual  things,  which  is  formulated  under 
the  general  name  of  religion,  means  noth 
ing.  The  lower  the  plane  you  live  on  now, 
the  longer  will  be  your  climb  hereafter." 

"  Does  Mary  Gordon  share  your  convic 
tions  ?  " 

"  I  have  never  spoken  of  them  to  her." 

"Shall  you?" 

"  Most  likely." 

"  And  she  will  believe  whatever  you  tell 
her  to  believe  ?" 

"  I  think  I  can  carry  her  with  me." 

"  And  that  will  be  another  bond?" 

"Yes." 

"  You  are  an  extraordinary  man,  and  we 
do  have  the  most  remarkable  midnight  con 
versations." 

"  I  am  ready  to  talk  of  other  things.  Are 
you  going  to  give  me  these  two  weeks  ? " 

"  Yes." 

"  Are  you  going  to   behave  yourself,  or 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     127 

are  you  going  to  treat  me  to  another  per 
formance  like  that  of  last  night?" 

"  Oh — never !  I  hope  I  shall  never  feel 
that  way  again.  Papa  used  to  encourage 
me  when  I  got  on  my  high  horse,  and  I 
always  let  myself  go.  But  I  became  ashamed 
of  myself  for  being  so  undignified,  some 
years  ago.  I  can't  think  why  I — yes  I  can, 
of  course,  and  you  know  why  just  as  well  as 
I  do." 

"  Give  me  your  hand." 

She  gave  it  to  him,  and  he  bent  over  her. 
She  had  no  thought  of  failure,  but  she  shrank 
away. 

"  Wait,"  she  said. 

"  For  what  ?  You  have  dismissed  Van 
Rhuys,  and  we  have  only  two  weeks." 

"  Is  it  necessary  that  I  should  kiss  you  ?  " 

"  Do  you  think  it  would  be  fair  to  me  if 
you  did  not  ?  Do  you  expect  me  to  wander 
all  day  in  that  forest  and  sit  up  all  night 
with  you  without  kissing  you  ?  What  do 


128     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

you  think  I  am  made  of?  I  might  with  a 
woman  who  was  intellectual  and  nothing 
more,  but  not  with  you." 

She  slipped  away  from  him  and  stood  up, 
drawing  her  hands  over  her  eyes. 

"  I  cannot  understand  myself,"  she  said. 
"  I  have  let  eight  men  kiss  me  and  thought 
little  about  it,  but  I  cannot  kiss  you  whom 
I  would  rather  than  any  man  I  have  ever 
known.  Won't  you  go  away  now  ? " 

He  got  up  at  once. 

"  I  don't  know  what  there  is  about  you," 
he  said.  "  I  never  knew  another  woman 
whom  I  would  have  obeyed  for  a  moment 
in  the  same  conditions.  Good-night." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

HE  did  not  see  her  alone  again  for  two 
days,  although  he  was  with  her  con 
stantly,  and  they  had  long  talks 
apart.  There  were  seven  clever  men  at  Casa 
Norte  this  time ;  all  of  the  women  were 
bright,  or  more,  and  the  days  and  nights 
were  very  gay.  They  rode  and  drove  and 
sailed  and  picnicked,  and  sang  and  played 
tennis  and  told  stories,  and  there  was  much 
good  conversation.  Clive  wrote  a  brief  note 
daily  to  Mary  Gordon,  but  gave  up  his 
thoughts  recklessly  to  Helena  Belmont. 
She  showed  to  full  advantage  as  hostess  : 
thoughtful,  suggestive,  womanly,  unselfish. 
Her  mind,  as  revealed  in  their  long  conver 
sations,  captivated  him.  Her  grace  appealed 
more  keenly  to  his  senses  than  her  beauty, 


130     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

which  sometimes,  as  she  talked,  wholly  dis 
appeared,  broken  by  a  personality  so  strong 
and  so  variable  as  to  play  havoc  with  its 
harmonies. 

On  the  third  morning  he  met  her  in  the 
pink-and-green  wilderness  of  the  rose-gar 
den.  The  dew  glittered  on  every  leaf  and 
petal,  for  the  sun  was  hardly  over  the  moun 
tain.  The  priests  had  been  ordered  early 

o  * 

to  bed  the  night  before,  that  they  might  rise 
early  and  go  on  a  picnic  in  a  distant  part  of 
the  forest.  Rollins  was  buttoning  his  shirt 
before  an  open  window  and  singing  a  duet 
with  Mrs.  Tower,  who  had  her  head  out  of 
another  window.  Helena  wore  a  pink-and- 
white  organdie  frock  and  a  large  hat  lined 
with  pink.  She  was  gathering  a  cluster  of 
roses  for  her  belt.  As  Clive  joined  her  she 
plucked  a  bud  and  pinned  it  on  his  cheviot 
shirt :  he  wore  no  coat ;  the  men  only  dressed 
for  dinner. 

dive's  broad  shoulders  were  between  the 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     131 

house  and  Helena.  He  pressed  his  hand 
suddenly  over  hers,  flattening  the  bud. 

"  You've  stuck  me,"  she  said,  pouting. 
"  These  roses  are  full  of  thorns." 

"  I  think  I'd  better  go." 

She  gave  him  a  glance  of  mingled  alarm, 
anger  and  appeal. 

"You  will  not  go  !" 

She  turned  her  hand  about  and  clasped  it 
over  his. 

"What  is  the  use?  I'm  afraid  I'm  get 
ting  in  too  deep.  What  common  sense  I  have 
left  tells  me  to  get  out  while  there  is  time." 

She  tightened  her  clasp.  "  But  you  won't 
go  ?  "  she  said  imperiously. 

"  No,  I  shall  not  go.  If  I  did,  I  shouldn't 
stay." 

Helena  threw  back  her  head,  her  woman's 
keen  delight  in  power  over  man  as  strong 
for  the  moment  as  her  gladness  in  Clive's 
touch  and  presence. 

After  breakfast   Miss   Belmont  and   her 


132     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

guests  drove  for  two  hours  through  the  for 
est,  scarcely  seeing  the  sun,  then  camped  in 
a  canon  by  a  running  stream.  The  canon 
was  narrow  at  the  bottom  but  widened  above, 
and  seemed  to  have  gathered  all  the  sun 
shine  of  the  day.  Its  sides  were  a  tangle 
of  fragrant  chaparral,  wild  roses,  purple  li 
lac,  and  red  lily,  the  delicate  green  of  young 
trees,  the  metallic  green  and  red  of  the  ma- 
drofto.  On  high  were  the  stark  redwoods. 

Some  of  the  men  went  frankly  to  sleep 
after  luncheon.  The  others  and  several  of 
the  girls  fished  ardently. 

"  Come,"  said  Helena  to  Clive.  "  There  is 
a  trail  over  there,  and  I  want  to  see  what  is 
on  top." 

"  It  will  be  a  hard  pull." 

"  Don't  you  want  to  come  ?  Very  well, 
I'll  go  alone.  Hang  my  hat  on  that  tree." 

She  sprang  lightly  from  stone  to  stone 
across  the  stream. 

He  followed  her  up  the  steep  side  of  the 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     133 

canon,  through  brush  so  dense  that  they  were 
quickly  out  of  sight,  and  through  a  bewild 
ering  fragrance.  At  the  top  they  were  in 
the  dark  forest  again,  and  pushed  along  as 
best  they  could.  They  found  themselves 
among  the  straggling  outposts  of  an  under- 
forest  of  fronds.  A  few  redwoods  spread 
their  spiked  arms  above  it,  but  the  sun 
touched  many  a  rustling  fan.  The  heights 
beyond  lifted  away  irregularly,  in  steeps  and 
galleries  and  higher  levels,  a  gracious 
blue  mist  softening  the  austerity  of  the 
crowding  trees.  A  creek  roared  softly 
above  the  low  rhythmic  murmur  of  the  for 
est.  Even  these  slight  sounds  seemed  to 
intrude  on  the  great  primeval  silence. 

"What  is  it?"  asked  Helena,  "the  pecu 
liar  influence  of  these  redwood  forests  ?  I 
have  been  in  other  forests  in  many  parts  of 
the  world,  and  I  have  never  known  anything 
like  this.  It  lifts  one  up,  makes  one  feel 
capable  of  anything,  and  yet  gives  one  a 


134     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

terrible  longing  and  loneliness — when  one 
is  alone." 

"  It  is  partly  spiritual,  partly  sensual. 
The  forest  seems  to  hold  in  essence  the  two 
principles  of  the  universe.  Do  you  want  to 
go  in  among  these  ferns  ?  They  are  pretty 
thick,  but  I  can  hold  them  back  for  you." 

"  Yes,  I  want  to  see  what  is  in  there." 

They  pushed  in  among  the  fronds,  which 
grew  taller  as  they  penetrated.  Soon  Clive 
had  no  need  to  hold  the  leaves  apart  for  his 
companion  ;  they  spread  out  a  foot  and  more 
above  their  heads.  The  place,  a  young  for 
est  of  slender  columns,  was  filled  with  green 
light.  Small  feathery  ferns  nodded  in  a 
little  breeze.  The  creek  seemed  to  murmur 
above  them.  Clive  turned  and  looked  at 
Helena.  Her  face  was  glorified.  He  took 
her  in  his  arms  and  kissed  her.  She  did 
not  shrink  from  him,  and  they  clung  to 
gether. 

After  a  few  moments  she  moved  her  head 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     135 

back  and  looked  up  at  him.  His  eyes  were 
not  laughing. 

"There  is  something  I  want  to  say,"  she 
said.  "  A  woman  doesn't  usually  say  it  until 
she  is  asked.  I  love  you.  I  want  you  to 
know  that  I  couldn't  kiss  you  like  that  if  I 
did  not." 

"  I  believe  that  you  love  me,"  he  said. 

"  Did  you  guess  the  reason  I  did  not  kiss 
you  the  other  night  ?  I  had  intended  to, 
but  it  suddenly  came  to  me  that  you  did 
not  love  me  enough,  that  you  were  merely 
in  love  with  me  ;  and  I  could  not  give  my 
self  like  that.  I  intended  to  wait  longer 
than  this.  But  I  forgot."  She  hesitated  a 
moment — the  color  left  her  face.  "  Do  you 
love  me  ?  "  she  asked. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "I  love  you." 

She  went  back  to  his  arms,  but  even  while 
she  learned  the  lesson  that  some  women 
learn  once  only,  and  then  possessingly  and 
finally,  she  realized  that  she  had  not  the 


136     A   WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

courage  to  speak  of  Mary  Gordon.  She 
had  intended,  the  moment  she  was  sure  of 
him,  to  command  him  to  break  his  engage 
ment  at  once  ;  but  her  arrogant  will  found 
itself  supple  before  the  strong  fibre  of  the 
man,  and  shrank  from  the  encounter.  They 
walked  on  after  a  time,  until  they  came  to  a 
stone,  where  they  sat  down.  She  put  her 
hands  about  his  face.  The  motion  was  a 
little  awkward,  but  she  was  a  woman  who 
would  grow  very  lavish  with  caresses. 

"Why  do  you  look  so  serious?"  she 
asked.  "  You  looked  so  different  a  mo 
ment  ago." 

"  The  situation  is  serious,"  he  said  briefly, 
"  But  don't  let  us  talk  about  it ;  we  have 
twelve  more  days." 

She  threw  her  head  back  against  his  shoul 
der  and  looked  up  into  the  feathery  roof. 
A  ray  of  light  wandered  in  and  touched  her 
face.  "  I  am  so  happy,"  she  said,  "  I  don't 
care  what  to-morrow  brings.  I  have  thought 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     137 

and  thought  of  being  with  you  like  this  and 
now  I  am  and  it  is  enough.  I  ought  to  be 
serious — I  know  what  you  are  thinking  of — 
but  it  doesn't  matter  ;  nothing  but  this  mat 
ters.  I  never  took  life  seriously — except  in 
a  sort  of  abstract  mental  way  occasionally — 
until  a  week  ago,  and  I  doubt  if  I  could 
keep  it  up." 

"  You  could  keep  it  up.  You  don't  know 
yourself." 

"  Once  I  got  dreadfully  bored  and  took 
care  of  a  sick  poor  woman  who  lived  in  a 
cabin  near  a  place  where  I  was  staying.  Her 
husband  was  away  in  the  mines,  and  she  had 
no  one  to  look  after  her  but  neighbors  as 
poor  as  herself.  I  sat  up  with  her  and 
worked  over  her  as  if  she  were  my  sister.  I 
was  frightfully  interested,  and  so  proud  of 
myself.  Then  one  morning — I  think  it  was 
the  fifth — I  was  sitting  by  the  window  about 
four  o'clock,  looking  at  the  view,  which  was 
beautiful — a  rolling  country  covered  with 


138     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

closely  trimmed  grape-vines,  and  miles  and 
miles  beyond,  a  range  of  the  blue  mountains. 
It  was  so  quiet.  Eternity  must  be  like  that 
quiet  of  four  in  the  morning.  And  gradu 
ally  as  I  looked,  the  most  sickening  dis 
gust  crept  over  me  for  the  life  I  had 
led  the  past  four  days,  an  utter  collapse 
of  my  philanthropy.  I  wanted  to  go  away 
and  be  frivolous.  I  was  hideously  bored. 
I  hated  the  sick  woman,  her  poverty,  and 
everything  serious  in  life.  I  stole  away  and 
sent  back  a  servant  to  stop  until  I  could 
get  a  trained  nurse.  I  never  went  near  the 
woman  again." 

He  pressed  her  to  him  with  passionate 
sympathy.  "Poor  child,"  he  said, "you 
have  lived  only  in  the  shallows.  I  wish  you 
always  might." 

But  she  was  too  happy  to  heed  anything 
but  the  strength  of  his  embrace. 

"You  don't  know  yourself,"  he  said,  "not 
the  least  little  bit." 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     139 

"  I  know  a  lot  more  than  you  think,  and 
I  know  how  I  can  love  you." 

"You  hardly  know  that.  You  have 
merely  a  vague  far-away  notion.  All  your 
woman's  lore  is  borrowed,  and  you  are  only 
half  awake.  Your  mind,  your  mental  con 
ception  of  things,  has  outrun  everything 
else.  If  the  other  part  ever  caught  up  you 
would  be  a  wonderful  woman."  Something 
in  his  tone  made  her  take  her  will  between 
her  teeth. 

"  You  will  teach  me,"  she  said  imperiously, 
"  as  long  as  we  are  both  alive." 

"  Yes,  if  I  am  a  scoundrel.  But  don't  let 
us  talk  about  that  now,  please.  I  will  be 
happy,  too.  Come,  let  us  get  out  of  this. 
It  is  damp  and  we  will  get  rheumatism, 
which  is  not  romantic.  Let  us  go  home 
and  sit  in  your  boudoir.  I  feel  as  if  I  should 
like  to  be  surrounded  by  the  conventionali 
ties  of  life  for  a  time.  One  feels  too  prim 
itive  in  this  forest." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE    next   morning   she   awoke  with 
a   sudden    pang    of   sympathy   for 
Mary  Gordon.     Her  intuitions  were 
keener   than   they   had    ever    been.       She 
turned  restlessly,  then  sprang  out  of  bed  and 
rang  for  her  maid. 

She  went  out  into  the  garden  and  gathered 
a  basket  of  roses  for  the  breakfast-table.  As 
she  entered  the  court,  the  dew  on  her  hair, 
her  damp  frock  clinging  to  her  bust  and 
arms,  Clive  was  standing  by  the  fountain, 
and  alone.  His  eyes  had  been  dull,  but  the 
light  sprang  to  them  as  he  went  forward  to 
meet  her.  He  half  held  out  his  arms.  She 
dropped  the  basket  into  them  with  a  little 
laugh. 

"  Come  into  the  dining-room,"  she  said, 
"  and  help  me  arrange  them." 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     141 

The  water  was  ready  in  the  silver  and 
crystal  bowls.  She  disposed  the  roses  with 
a  few  practised  touches,  then  turned  and 
flung  her  arms  about  Clive  and  kissed  him. 

"  What  is  the  matter,"  she  asked.  Didn't 
you  sleep  ?  " 

"  No  ;  not  much." 

"  You  said  you  would  not  think.  Not  for 
twelve  days." 

"  I  shall  try  not  to." 

"  You  must  sleep  after  breakfast.  I'll 
have  your  room  darkened  and  all  the  horrid 
flies  put  out,  and  Faun  will  stand  outside 
your  door  and  see  that  no  one  passes." 

"  What  a  dear  little  wife  you  would  make." 

"  Do  you  think  I  would  make  a  good 
wife?"  she  asked  anxiously.  "That  you 
could  do  anything  with  all  this  raw  material  ?  " 

"  I  think  you  would  make  the  most  per 
fect  wife  in  the  world,"  he  said. 

Helena  made  no  secret  of  her  love  for 
Clive.  Even  if  she  had  been  less  sure  of 


142     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

success,  she  would  have  gloried  in  doing 
him  honor.  But,  although  she  did  not  doubt 
the  issue,  she  had  respect  enough  for  him  to 
scent  a  battle  ahead,  and  the  savage  in  her 
was  ardent  for  the  fight. 

The  household  was  profoundly  interested. 
Helena,  despite  her  love  of  power,  had  never 
been  known  before  to  deliberately  woo  a 
man  from  another  woman.  They  knew  that 
she  must  be  mastered  by  a  passion  new  to 
her,  to  ignore  a  girl  whom  she  liked  and 
respected  as  she  did  Mary  Gordon.  Even 
the  women  believed  she  would  win ;  only 
Rollins  doubted. 

"  I  don't  know,"  he  said  to  Mrs.  Lent ; 
"  he's  broad-gauge,  that  man.  He's  so  infat 
uated  now  that  he  doesn't  know  where  he's 
at.  But  he'll  wake  up,  and  then  I  don't 
know  that  even  Helena  Belmont  will  be  able 
to  manage  him.  A  man  hates  to  go  back 
on  a  girl,  anyhow  ;  he  doesn't  exactly  know 
how  to  do  it." 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.      143 

"  Well,  I  wish  he'd  hurry  and  make  up 
his  mind,"  said  Mrs.  Lent,  "for  he  looks 
like  a  funeral.  He  flirted  with  even  poor 
little  me  when  he  first  came,  but  I  haven't 
seen  that  delightfully  wicked  expression  in 
his  eyes  for  a  week." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

CLIVE  would  not  sit  up  all  night  with 
Helena,  but  they  spent  hours  of  the 
day   in    the    forest,    and   there   was 
nothing-   funereal  in  his  aspect   when    they 
were  alone.     One   morning    Helena's  maid 
brought  her  a  note  when  she  came  to  awaken 
her. 

"  My  dear  Miss  Belmont  "  (it  ran), — "  I  am  going 
away  for  a  few  days.  I  shall  be  back  on  Monday, 
at  four. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"  OWIN  CLIVE." 

Helena  stared  at  the  abrupt,  formal  mis 
sive  in  dismay  for  a  moment  ;  then  laughed. 
She  had  seen  men  struggle  in  her  net  before. 
She  knew  that  he  would  keep  his  word  and 
return,  and  had  perfect  faith  in  the  power 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     145 

of  her  seductive  charm,  no  matter  what  good 
resolve  he  might  accomplish  when  away. 

It  was  a  hot  day,  and  her  guests  were  too 
indolent  to  do  anything  but  lie  about  and 
smoke  and  read.  They  did  not  want  to  be 
entertained,  and  she  let  them  alone  and 
spent  the  day  in  the  rose-garden  in  the  shade 
of  the  oaks.  She  rather  enjoyed  thinking 
of  Clive,  for  variety,  and  anticipating  his 
return.  She  concocted  clever  arguments 
and  convincing  appeals.  She  saw  herself  in 
the  gowns  she  would  wear  when  he  was 
with  her  again,  and  was  glad  for  the  wealth 
that  gave  such  potent  aid  to  her  beauty. 
She  was  very  happy :  the  future  was  so 
exquisite  that  she  trembled  and  grew  breath 
less  at  the  thought  of  it. 

The  next  day  she  sat  on  a  ledge  below 
the  crest  of  the  cliffs,  and  stared  at  the  huge 
restless  waves  of  the  Pacific  rearing  against 
the  outlying  rocks,  falling  with  their  baffled 
roar.  There  was  neither  peace,  nor  reason, 


146     A   WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

nor  power  of  anticipation  in  her.  She  was 
insensible  of  any  instinct  beyond  an  insuffer 
able  desire  for  his  physical  presence. 

That  night  she  went  to  bed  glad  with  the 
thought  that  she  should  see  him  in  sixteen 
hours,  and  pictured  their  meeting  so  often 
and  variously,  and  struck  a  match  to  look  at 
the  clock  so  many  times,  that  she  slept  little. 
The  next  morning  she  was  so  nervous  and 
apprehensive  that  the  placid  conversation  of 
her  guests  was  intolerable,  and  she  would 
not  drive  with  them.  After  luncheon  she 
went  up  to  a  favorite  spot  in  the  forest, 
directing  one  of  the  Chinese  servants  to  con 
duct  Clive  to  her  when  he  returned. 

As  the  afternoon  wore  on  her  gloom  lifted 
and  passed.  She  grew  light-minded  and 
humorous,  almost  indifferent.  She  took 
herself  to  task  in  some  dismay  :  in  the  fit 
ness  of  things  she  should  be  passionately 
serious  when  he  arrived.  "  Are  there  really 
no  great  crises  in  life  ?  "  she  thought.  "  Are 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     147 

we  all  comedians  gone  wrong,  personified 
jokes  ?  "  But  she  was  helpless  ;  the  reaction 
was  inevitable. 

Clive  was  late.  He  was  always  late.  Helena 
felt  no  uneasiness,  but  sat  idly,  wondering 
how  they  would  meet,  her  mind  occasion 
ally  drifting  to  other  things.  She  had 
carried  a  large  hat  lined  with  white  and 
covered  with  white  plumes,  in  a  box  through 
the  damaging  brush,  and  hidden  the  box 
in  a  hollow  redwood.  The  hat,  pushed 
backward  on  her  brilliant  hair  enhanced 
the  oval  colorous  beauty  of  her  face.  She 
took  it  off  suddenly  and  threw  it  on  the 
ground  ;  the  attempt  was  too  evident ;  all 
men  were  not  consistently  dense. 

She  heard  a  crackling  in  the  brush  on  the 
other  side  of  the  creek,  then  the  Chinaman's 
protesting  voice. 

"  Can't  hully  when  catchee  pigtail  allee 
time,  Mister  Clive.  Me  got  thlee  velly  bad 
sclatches,  and  clothes  allee  same  no  washee," 


148    A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

There  was  no  answer  from  Clive,  but  he 
was  in  view  presently,  The  Chinaman  re 
treated  hastily,  wrapping  his  pigtail  round 
his  neck.  Helena  rose  and  went  for 
ward. 

She  felt  suddenly  resentful  and  haughty. 

After  all,  it  was  presumption  in  a  man  to 
take  upon  himself  the  deciding  of  a  question 
which  was  as  vital  to  her  as  to  him.  She 
wondered  if  she  really  did  love  him ;  cer 
tainly  she  felt  neither  tenderness  nor  toler 
ance  at  the  moment. 

Clive  walked  slowly  across  the  felled  red 
wood  which  served  as  bridge  between  the 
high  banks  of  the  creek.  As  he  approached 
Helena  forgot  herself  and  her  moods. 

"He  has  suffered  horribly."  she  thought. 
"What  am  I  that  I  did  not  know  he  must  ?" 

And  then  she  realized  that  she  could  not 
comprehend  his  experience  of  the  past  three 
days  ;  that  her  mind  merely  grasped  the 
fact:  she  had  no  profounder,  more  simpa- 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     149 

thetic  understanding.  She  drew  back, 
frightened  and  chilled. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  see  you  looking  so  badly," 
she  said  coldly,  as  they  shook  hands.  "Per 
haps  we  had  better  have  it  out  at  once." 

They  sat  down  against  two  redwoods, 
facing  each  other. 

"  Very  well,"  said  Clive,  "  I  have  been  a 
scoundrel  and  nothing  I  can  say  is  the  least 
excuse.  I  can  only  state  the  facts.  .  .  . 
The  average  girl  who  is  an  avowed  flirt  ex 
pects  to  be  made  love  to,  and  a  man  finds 
it  no  task  to  do  what  a  charming  woman 
exacts  of  him.  .  .  .1  took  you  in  the 
beginning  for  a  spoiled  beauty,  a  coquette, 
above  the  average  as  far  as  brain  was  con 
cerned,  but  still  suggesting  little  more  than 
an  unusually  spirited  flirtation.  Of  course, 
I  was  far  more  fascinated  than  I  realized,  or 
I  should  not  have  come  to  your  house,  nor 
should  I  have  asked  you  to  give  me  these 
two  weeks.  .  .  .That  it  might  mean  life  or 


150     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

death  to  either  of  us  I   did  not  realize  until 
that  day  among  the  ferns." 

The  fight  was  on.  Helena  threw  back 
her  head.  "  Can  you  not  explain  to  Mary 
Gordon  ?  Surely  she  would  release  you." 

"  I  never  could  explain  to  Mary  Gordon. 
She  would  comprehend  that  after  four  years 
I  had  thrown  her  over  for  a  prettier  woman 
whom  I  had  known  two  weeks.  Women 
like  that — simple,  good,  loyal  women — don't 
reason  and  analyze  as  a  clever  woman  does. 
And  the  hurt  lasts — not  because  the  man  is 
worth  it,  any  more  than  any  man  is  good 
enough  for  such  women — but  because  they 
are  what  they  are." 

"  But  she  was  not  the  woman  for  you  ; 
therefore  she  would  find  another  man." 

"  She  would  live  on  an  isolated  ranch  in 
Southern  California  for  several  years,  then 
go  back  to  England  and  live  in  her  old  home, 
among  the  people  she  has  known  all  her  life. 
Those  women  don't  seek  distraction.  They 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     151 

are  the  slaves  of  an  idea.  If  the  right  man 
did  come,  she  wouldn't  know  it." 

"All  of  which  means  that  you  think  it 
your  duty  to  marry  her." 

"  I  mean  to  marry  her.  There  is  nothing 
else  to  be  done.  If  there  were  no  other 
reason  I  have  no  right  to  make  her  ridicu 
lous." 

Helena  caught  her  breath.  For  the  first 
time  she  mentally  appreciated  the  strength 
in  the  man  which  had  captivated  her  woman's 
instincts.  But  she  did  not  lose  courage. 

"And  I  am  not  to  be  considered  at  all? 
I  say  nothing  about  being  made  ridiculous. 
If  I  am  it  is  my  own  fault,  and  I  don't  care, 
anyhow ;  that  seems  to  me  a  very  insignifi 
cant  matter.  Now  that  I  have  found  you 
am  I  to  be  left  alone — thirty,  forty  years  ? 
You  know  that  I  have  about  equal  possibili 
ties  of  good  and  bad  in  me.  If  I  married 
you  I  could  become  as  wholly  good  as  any 
mortal  can.  I  never  realized  what  possibili- 


152     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

ties  there  are  in  any  of  us  as  I  did  in  the  last 
few  days  before  you  went  away.  The  prin 
cipal  reason  that  I  love  you  is  because  I 
always  feel  that  there  is  something  in  you  to 
climb  to  and  that  you  could  lift  me  up  to 
you.  If  you  leave  me  I'll  become  a  bad 
woman.  Why  not  ?  It  must  be  very  inter 
esting,  and  I  have  nothing  more  in  life  to 
look  forward  to.  If  I  lived  with  you  I  might 
grow  into  your  belief ;  you  could  carry  me 
anywhere ;  but  alone  I  cannot.  Moreover, 
I  want  to  live  in  this  life.  I  cannot  sit  down 
and  wait  patiently  for  a  mythical  and  unsub 
stantial  hereafter.  I  am  too  much  of  a  sav 
age,  I  suppose,  but  at  all  events,  I  can't." 

"There  will  be  no  excuse  for  you  to 
become  a  bad  woman.  You  have  too  much 
brain  and  money — too  many  methods  of  dis 
traction.  You  can  travel  and  make  any  life 
you  choose.  The  world  is  an  interesting 
place  ;  you  don't  know  the  A  B  C  of  it." 

"You  are  cruel." 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     153 

"  Yes,"  he  said.  "  More  so  than  you  real 
ize  just  now." 

"  I'm  not  doubting  that  you  love  me.  If 
I  did,  do  you  suppose  I  would  argue  with 
you  ?  I'm  not  in  a  tender  or  sympathetic 
mood.  There  is  too  much  to  be  said.  I 
must  talk  it  out  now  ;  we  are  not  an  ordinary 
pair  of  fools."  She  paused  a  moment  and 
looked  straight  at  him.  "We  have  a  more 
imperative  duty  to  ourselves  than  to  tradi 
tions.  You  are  in  the  new  world  now,  almost 
in  a  new  civilization.  Smash  such  outworn 
ideals.  They  are  nothing,  nothing  to  human 
happiness." 

"  Such  traditions  as  honor  and  faith  and 
pity  for  the  weaker  are  in  the  bone  and  blood 
of  the  older  civilization.  If  we  tore  them 
out  there  is  not  much  we've  got,  that's  worth 
anything,  that  wouldn't  follow." 

"  I  would  not  care — not  a  straw.  I  should 
love  you  whether  you  were  satisfied  with  your 
self  or  not,  and  I  could  make  you  forget." 


i54     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

"  No  ;  you  could  not." 

"  Oh,  you  are  way  above  me,"  she  said 
bitterly.  "  I  don't  mean  to  say  that  I 
haven't  known  plenty  of  honorable  men,  but 
they  would  find  a  way  out  of  it — for  me. 
You  seem  to  be  welded  together  so  compactly 
that  every  characteristic  is  bound  up  with 
every  other.  Nothing  is  acquired,  separate. 
Probably  I'd  never  reach  you,  after  all.  Per 
haps  it  is  as  well  we  don't  marry 

"I  wish  you  would  not  talk  as  if  I  were 
an  infernal  prig.  Can't  you  imagine  what 
an  ass  a  man  feels  when  a  woman  rots  to 
him  like  that  ?  I  am  the  most  ordinary  per 
son  you  will  probably  ever  know .  If  I  were 
not  we  wouldn't  be  where  we  are  to-day. 
Now  that  I  have  made  such  a  mess  of  things 
I  can  only  see  one  way  out  of  it,  and  I  don't 
feel  a  hero,  I  assure  you." 

"  Have  you  thought  of  yourself  at  all  dur 
ing  the  last  three  days  ?  " 

"Of  course  I've  thought  of  myself.    What 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     155 

a  question  !  And  thinking  of  myself  meant 
thinking  of  you." 

"  But  you  have  thought  more  of  Mary 
Gordon — I  mean  you  have  considered  her 
more,'' 

"  Yes  ;  I  have." 

She  got  up  and  went  over  and  sat  down 
on  the  edge  of  the  bluff.  He  filled  his  pipe. 
She  smiled  as  the  smoke  drifted  to  her. 
She  thought  that  she  had  never  seen  the 
creek  look  so  beautiful.  The  stones  under 
the  clear  water  shone  like  opaque  jewels. 
Great  bunches  of  feathery  maidenhair  clung 
to  every  boulder.  The  long  delicate  strands 
of  the  ice-grass  trailed  far  over  the  water. 
Tiny  trees  sprouted  from  rocks  in  mid 
stream,  where  moss  had  gathered.  Red 
lilies  and  ferns  grew  close  to  the  brink. 
The  ugly  brown  roots  of  a  pine  clung, 
squirming,  down  the  bluff. 

On  the  mountain  above  the  plateau  a 
deer  leaped  once,  crashing  through  the 


156     A   WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

brush,  tossing  his  white  horns  in  terror  at 
sight  of  man.  A  squirrel  chattered  high  up 
in  a  redwood,  where  he  was  packing  acorns 
for  the  winter.  A  school  of  salmon  swam 
serenely  down  the  creek  and  disappeared 
in  the  dark  perspective. 

Helena  sat  there  for  a  half-hour.  Then 
she  went  back  to  Clive,  but  did  not  sit  down. 
He  rose  also. 

"  I  understand  you  a  little  better,  I  think," 
she  said.  "  You  won't  like  what  I  am  going 
to  say,  but  I  shall  say  it,  anyhow.  You 
have  so  much  good  in  you.  I  never  thought 
I  should  love  a  good  man,  but  I  believe 
that  is  really  the  reason  I  love  you  so 
much.  The  raw  material  in  me  responds 
to  the  highly  developed  in  you.  You  are 
capable  of  so  much  that  is  way  beyond  me. 
I  have  fine  impulses,  but  they  are  shallow ; 
lofty  ideals,  but  in  a  little  while  they  bore 
me.  And  you  are  consistent.  Even  when 
you  do  what  you  know  to  be  wrong,  you 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     157 

never  vary  in  your  ideals  and  faith.  I  am 
new  and  crude  and  heterogeneous.  It  is  the 
difference  between  the  Old  and  the  New." 

"  You  have  the  richest  possibilities  of  any 
woman  I  have  ever  known 

"  Tell  me  something.  Is  it  not  because 
Mary  Gordon  is  the  more  helpless  and 
appeals  more  to  your  chivalry  ? — although 
you  love  me  more  :  although  I  have  more 
beauty  and  brains  and  passion,  and  could 
make  you  far  happier?" 

"  That  is  one  reason." 

"  Then  will  the  manliest  and  best  of  men 
continue  to  be  captured  by  the  best  and 
simplest  of  women  ?  It  will  produce  a  better 
race,  I  suppose.  If  I  had  been  your  mother 
you  would  not  be  half  what  you  are.  It  is 
enough  for  the  man  to  have  the  brain,  I  sup 
pose.  We  are  a  forced  growth  and  abnor 
mal—but  what  is  to  become  of  us  ?" 

His  reserve  left  him  then  and  he  caught 
her  in  his  arms.  She  clung  to  him  desper- 


158     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

ately,  and  for  a  while  forgot  that  the  victory 
was  still  to  be  won.  Then  she  cried  and 
coaxed,  and  pleaded,  and  lavished  endear 
ment,  and  was  far  more  difficult  for  the 
man  to  combat  than  when  he  had  stood  his 
ground  with  a  brain  alone. 

"Come,"  he  said  finally ;  "can't  you  un 
derstand  ?  You  might  help  me  a  little. 
Can't  you  see  that  I  want  to  let  everything 
go  and  stay  with  you  ?  Don't  you  think  I 
know  what  I  should  find  with  you  ?  You  do 
know  that  ?  Well,  then,  you  should  also 
know  that  I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  do 
the  only  decent  thing  a  man  could  do." 

"  Well,  give  me  a  month  longer.  Let  me 
have  that  much,  at  least." 

"  I  shall  go  to-morrow.  If  I  go  now  all 
these  people  will  quickly  forget  me,  and 
regard  what  has  passed  between  us  as  one 
of  your  flirtations.  But  if  I  stayed  on  I 
should  make  you  ridiculous,  and  perhaps 
compromise  you — you  are  so  reckless.  And 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     159 

for  other  reasons  the  sooner  I  get  away  from 
here  the  better." 

"  What  are  the  other  reasons  ?" 

"  We've  discussed  the  subject  enough. 
Come,  let  us  go." 

"  I  never  knew  that  a  man  could  be  so 
obstinate  with  a  beautiful  woman  he  loved." 

"  You  have  a  woman's  general  knowledge 
of  men,  but  you  know  nothing  of  any  type 
you  haven't  encountered.  I  believe  you 
could  make  any  man  love  you  ;  but  certain 
men  are  greater  cowards  before  certain 
inherited  principles  than  they  are  before  the 
prospect  of  parting  from  the  woman  they 
most  love " 

"  I  said  that  you  were  the  victim  of  tradi 
tions." 

"  Perhaps  I  am,  but  I  am  also  unable  to 
eat  raw  fish  or  human  flesh.  What  are  any 
of  us  but  the  logical  results  of  traditions  ? 
Just  look  at  this  fog.  Let  me  put  your 
shawl  round  you." 


160     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

Helena  turned.  A  fine  white  mist  was 
pouring  out  of  the  forest  on  the  other  side 
of  the  creek.  It  had  passed  them,  and  was 
puffing  slowly  onward.  It  lay  softly  on  the 
creek,  covering  the  bright  water.  It  swirled 
about  the  trees  and  moved  lightly  through 
the  dark  arbors  above.  It  fled  up  the 
mountain  beyond,  and  the  forest  showed 
through  the  silver  veil  like  grey  columns 
with  capitals  and  bases  of  frozen  spray. 

"  Yes,  we  must  go,"  said  Helena,  "  or  we 
shall  be  lost." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

HELENA  did  not   meet  her  guests  at 
dinner  that  night,  nor  did  she  trouble 
to  send  word  that  she  was  ill.     She 
rang  for   the  Chinese  butler,  gave  him  an 
order,  then  locked  her  doors  and  sat   mo 
tionless    in    her    boudoir    for  hours.     She 
pictured,  until  her    brain    ached,  and    her 
ears  rang,  what    her  life   with  Clive   could 
have   been,  and  what    his  would    be   with 
Mary  Gordon. 

But  despair  was  not  in  her  as  yet,  for  he 
was  still  under  the  same  roof,  and  she  had 
not  played  her  last  card.  It  was  a  card  that 
she  had  half-consciously  considered  from  the 
beginning,  and  during  the  last  few  days 
had  looked  full  upon.  To-night  for  the  first 
time  she  realized  that  it  was  a  hateful  card, 
unworthy  of  her,  but  reminded  herself  that 


162     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

she  was  a  woman  who  would,  if  necessary, 
walk  straight  to  her  purpose  over  cracking 
and  spouting  earth. 

At  twelve  o'clock  she  sat  before  her  dress 
ing  table  regarding  herself  attentively  in 
the  mirror.  She  wore  a  neglige  of  white 
crepe  and  lace,  which  half  revealed  her  neck 
and  bust.  Her  unbound  hair  clung  to  her 
body  like  melted  copper,  which  had  just  be 
gun  to  stiffen  into  rings,  and  waves,  and 
spirals.  She  had  never  looked  more  beauti 
ful. 

There  was  a  knock  at  her  door. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  she  asked. 

"Alice  gentlemens  go  to  bled,"  an 
nounced  Ah  Sing  cautiously. 

"Very  well." 

She  rose  hurriedly,  almost  overturning 
her  chair.  Her  hands  shook.  She  caught 
sieht  of  a  terrified  face  in  the  mirror. 

o 

"  This  won't  do  !  "  she  thought  angrily. 
She  rang.  Ah  Sing  returned, 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     163 

"  Bring  me  a  glass  of  champagne,"  she 
said. 

"Might" 

She  closed  the  door  upon  him,  then 
opened  it  quickly.  "  Ah  Sing !  "  she  called. 

The  Chinaman  returned. 

"  Light  a  lamp  in  the  drawing-room  and 
ask  Mr.  Clive  to  go  there." 

"  Allight." 

She  stood  leaning  against  the  door,  her 
hand  pressed  hard  against  her  chin,  her  eyes 
staring  angrily  at  her  reflection  in  a  long 
Psyche  mirror. 

Ah  Sing  tapped  and  handed  in  the  cham 
pagne.  She  pushed  it  aside  with  a  gesture 
of  disgust. 

"Take  it  away.  Did  you  do  as  I  told 
you  ?" 

"Yes,  missee,  Mr.  Clive  in  dlawing-loom 
now." 

He  went  out  and  still  Helena  stared  at 
herself  in  the  mirror  with  angry  terrified 


1 64     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

eyes.  After  all,  she  was  but  a  girl,  with  a 
woman's  theories.  What  she-  was  deter 
mined  upon  had  seemed  very  easy  and 
picturesque  at  long  range.  She  had  even 
rehearsed  it  mentally  during  the  past  two 
days ;  but  now  that  she  was  to  enact  the 
role  it  appalled  her.  She  recalled  several 
scenes  of  the  sort  as  presented  by  the  makers 
of  fiction  (the  canny  and  imaginative  French 
man  for  the  most  part),  but  failed  to  find 
spiritual  stamina,  in  the  retrospect. 

"What  a  fool!  What  a  fool!"  she 
thought.  "  I,  who  have  prided  myself  that 
I  have  a  will  of  iron.  If  his  first  duty  is  to 
me  he  will  stay,  and  two  people  will  be 
happy  instead  of  miserable.  As  for  Mary 
Gordon,  she  will  marry  the  curate  inside  of 
five  years." 

She  retreated  suddenly  to  her  wardrobe, 
and  wrapped  a  broad  scarf  about  her  shoul 
ders  and  bust,  then  brought  her  foot  down 
and  went  resolutely  out  into  the  corridor. 


HE  WAS  sTAxmxu  BY  THE  MAXTKL. — 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     165 

The  fog  was  banked  in  the  court.  The 
palms  looked  like  the  dissolving  eidola  of 
themselves.  The  invisible  fountain  splashed 
heavily,  as  if  oppressed. 

"  I  needed  the  shawl  after  all,"  she 
thought  grimly.  "  A  sneeze  might  be  fatal." 

She  walked  rapidly  down  the  corridor  to 
the  drawing-room,  and  without  giving  her 
self  an  instant  for  vacillation,  turned  the 
knob  and  went  in.  Then  she  cowered 
against  the  door  and  would  have  exchanged 
every  hope  she  possessed  for  the  privilege  of 
retreat.  But  Clive  had  seen  her. 

He  was  standing  by  the  mantel.  He 
looked  his  best,  as  he  always  did  in  evening 
dress.  Even  as  Helena  wondered  if  the 
earth  were  quaking  beneath  Casa  Norte, 
she  was  conscious  of  his  remarkable  physi 
cal  beauty.  He  had  his  pipe  in  his  hand. 
It  dropped  suddenly  to  the  mantelshelf. 
But  he  did  not  go  forward  to  meet  her. 

"  There  is  something  I  want  to  say,"  she 


1 66     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

gasped,  searching-  wildly  for  inspiration. 
"It  has  occurred  to  me  that  perhaps  the 
reason  you  hesitated  was  my  money.  I  will 
give  it  all  away — to  charity  or  my  aunt.  I 
will  only  keep  a  little,  so  as  not  to  be  a  bur 
den  to  you.  You  may  think  this  a  silly 
Quixotic  idea — made  on  the  impulse  of  the 
moment — but  indeed  I  would." 

"  I  am  sure  that  you  would.  I  had  not 
thought  of  the  money.  I  did  not  get  that 
far." 

Helena  pressed  her  hands  against  the 
door  behind  her.  She  felt  an  impulse  to 
laugh  hysterically.  For  the  life  of  her  she 
could  not  remember  a  detail  that  she  had 
rehearsed.  She  felt  as  if  on  the  edge  of  a 
farce-comedy.  But  she  would  not  give  up 
the  game. 

"  I  am  so  tired,"  she  said  plaintively.  "  I 
have  eaten  nothing  since  I  saw  you,  and  I 
have  thought  and  thought  and  thought  until 
I  am  all  worn  out." 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     167 

He  placed  a  chair  at  once. 

"  You  poor  little  thing,"  he  said.  "  Let 
me  go  to  the  larder  and  see  if  I  can't  find 
you  something— 

"  No  ;  I  don't  want  anything." 

She  sat  down,  holding  the  shawl  closely 
about  her.  Clive  returned  to  the  mantel. 

"  My  head  ached  so  I  had  to  take  my  hair 
down,"  she  said. 

"  I  wonder  what  is  going  on  in  your  head 
at  the  present  moment." 

"  Don't  you  know  ? " 

"  No.  Why  are  you  such  a  reckless  child  ? 
You  could  have  seen  me  in  the  morning." 

"  I  came  here  to  make  it  impossible  for 
you  to  marry  Mary  Gordon.  I  can't  do  it, 
and  I  feel  like  a  fool." 

He  turned  away  his  head. 

"  I  told  you  before  that  the  role  of  Deli 
lah  did  not  suit  you.  And  if  it  did,  couldn't 
you  see  that  I  had  made  up  my  mind  ? 
What  sort  of  a  weakling " 


168     A   WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

"You  didn't  let  me  finish,"  she  interrupted 
him,  blushing  furiously.  "  I  meant — of 
course  I  meant — that  I  want  you  to  leave 
with  me  for  Europe  to-morrow — we  can 
marry  in  San  Francisco — I  must  look  like  a 
Delilah  !  Why  do  the  novelists  and  drama 
tists  arrange  these  matters  so  much  better 
than  we  do  ? — Oh,  what  an  idiot  I  am,  any 
how  ! " 

"  Go  back  to  your  room — please  do." 

"  You  won't  marry  me  to-morrow,  then  ? 
— good  heavens !  that  I  should  propose  to 
a  man ! " 

He  made  no  reply. 

"  I  don't  believe  you  love  me  a  bit." 

"  Of  course  you  don't.  A  woman  never 
gives  a  man  credit  for  any  decency  of  mo 
tive  :  her  theory  is  that  he  follows  along  the 
line  of  least  resistance.  Well,  I  suppose  he 
does." 

She  dropped  her  face  into  her  hands. 

"  Oh,  what  shall  I  do  ?  What  shall  I  do  ?  " 
she  said  passionately. 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     169 

Clive  brought  his  hand  close  above  his 
own  eyes.  "  Will  it  not  help  you  to  know 
that  I  love  you  unalterably  ?  " 

"Can  a  man  remember  a  woman  like 
that?" 

"There  is  one  woman  in  every  man's  life 
that  he  never  forgets  ;  and  that  woman,  worse 
luck,  is  rarely  his  wife." 

"It  would  mean  everything  to  me.  And 
I  could  be  true  to  you.  But  it  doesn't  sat 
isfy  me."  She  dropped  her  hands  and  stared 
at  him.  "  I  want  you — you.  How  am  I  to 
drag  out  my  life  ?  I  can't  believe  that  after 
to-night  I  shall  never  see  you  again.  I  can't ! 
I  can't ! "  She  stood  up  and  leaned  against 
the  opposite  end  of  the  mantel.  "  Do  you 
know  one  thing  that  keeps  on  hurting  me 
through  everything  ?  "  she  asked  after  a  few 
moments.  "  It  is  that  you  suffer  more  than 
I  do,  than  I  am  capable  of  suffering,  and  that 
I  cannot  sympathize  with  you  as  I  want  to 
do.  Is  that  the  reason  that  you  don't  love 


1 70     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

me  well  enough  to  give  up  everything  else 
for  me — that  I  am  not  strong  enough  to 
hold  you?" 

"  Of  course  it  is  not  the  reason.  If  you 
really  love  me — and  I  believe  you  do — you 
will  suffer  enough  before  you  get  through." 

For  a  while  neither  spoke  again,  nor  moved. 
The  ocean  sounded  as  if  it  were  under  the 
window. 

"  There  is  another  thing,"  she  said,  finally. 
"  I  may  as  well  say  it.  I  know  that  if  I  had 
succeeded  to-night  I  should  have  been  hor 
ribly  disappointed  in  you.  It  wouldn't  be 
you  any  longer.  For  what  I  love  in  you  is 
your  strength — a  strength  I  don't  possess. 
I'm  glad  I  came  to-night,  although  I've  made 
myself  ridiculous ;  I  know  both  you  and  my 
self  better.  I  can  be  true  to  you  now ;  I 
don't  think  I  could  have  been  before,  and  I 
might  have  done  reckless  things.  And  per 
haps  after  you  have  gone  and  the  novelty 
and  excitement  have  worn  off,  I  shall  under- 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     171 

stand  you  still  better.  That  is  what  I  shall 
live  for.  Promise  me  that  you  will  believe 
that,  and  that  spiritually  I  shall  never  be  far 
from  you,  and  that  I  am  growing  better 
instead  of  worse." 

"  I  don't  need  to  promise."  His  left  hand 
was  still  above  his  eyes.  Helena  saw  his 
right  clench.  She  went  toward  the  door. 

He  went  forward  to  open  it  for  her.  As 
he  reached  out  his  hand  for  the  knob  she 
struck  it  down  and  flung  her  arms  about 
him. 

"  I  can't  go  like  this,"  she  said  passionately. 
"  You  must  kiss  me  once  more." 

He  caught  her  to  him.  She  saw  his  eyes 
blaze  as  he  bent  his  head,  and  thought,  as 
far  as  she  was  capable  of  thinking,  that  her 
generalities  had  been  correct.  Even  in  the 
rapture  of  the  moment  a  pang  shot  through 
her.  Then  she  found  herself  on  the  other 
side  of  the  door  and  heard  the  key  turn  in 
the  lock. 


i;2     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

She  remembered  only  that  she  was  hungry 
and  tired.  She  went  to  the  larder,  and  sat 
on  a  box  and  ate  a  plate  of  cold  chicken  and 
bread,  then  went  to  bed  and  slept  soundly. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

NEXT  morning  the  guests  of  Casa 
Norte  were  assembled  in  the  court, 
discussing  Clive's  departure  and 
waiting  for  the  traps  which  would  take  them 
for  their  accustomed  drive,  when  Helena, 
dressed  in  her  habit,  came  out  of  her  room 
and  walked  up  to  them. 

"  Mr.  Clive  has  gone,  I  suppose  ? "  she 
asked. 

"  He  left  a  short  time  ago,"  said  Miss 
Lord.  "  I  am  so  sorry  he  will  not  return. 
Helena,  how  can  you  be  so  cruel  ?" 

"  You  are  a  hypocrite  and  talking  rubbish. 
I  tried  to  get  him  away  from  Mary  Gordon, 
and  I  lost  the  game,  and  I  don't  care  in 
the  least  whether  you  know  it  or  not.  I 
shall  not  drive  with  you  this  morning.  I 
am  going  for  a  ride  by  myself;"  and  she 
left  the  house. 


174     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

"  Home,  heaven,  and  mother !  "  said  Rol 
lins  with  a  gasp.  "  I  didn't  think  even  she 
would  be  as  game  as  that.  Well,  I  am  sorry 
— sorry.  Damn  the  whole  business  of  life, 
anyhow." 

Helena  rode  rapidly  through  the  forest, 
taking  a  short  cut  by  trail  to  the  fern  grove 
above  the  canon.  She  came  upon  it  after 
an  hour's  hard  riding.  She  noted  that  it 
was  almost  circular  in  form,  irregularly  out 
lined  by  the  redwoods.  The  stiff  and  feather 
tops  were  rustling  in  a  soft  breeze  and  glinted 
with  the  younger  shades  of  green.  She 
thought  that  she  had  never  seen  the  sky  so 
blue,  the  sun  so  golden.  The  trees  were 
singing  high  above.  Occasionally,  one  branch 
creaked  upon  another  discordantly. 

She  tethered  her  horse  and  went  in  among 
the  ferns.  \Vhen  they  closed  above  her 
head,  and  the  green  twilight  was  about  her, 
she  felt  gratefully  that  she  was  beyond  the 
eye  of  man,  hidden  even  from  the  redwoods, 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     175 

which,  she  had  a  fancy,  were  human  and 
wise. 

She  sat  down  on  the  stone  and  cried. 
Tears  did  not  come  easily  to  her  ;  she  was 
not  a  lightly  emotional  woman.  To-day  she 
abandoned  herself  to  a  passion  of  grief 
which  thrilled  her  nerves  and  cramped  her 
fingers.  It  was  a  passion  which  accumu 
lated  depth  and  strength  instead  of  dissi 
pating  itself,  and  it  was  an  hour  before  she 
was  exhausted.  The  storm  brought  no  re 
lief,  as  April  showers  do  to  most  women. 
She  felt  heavy  and  blunt,  and  knew  that  the 
third  stage  would  be  the  first.  She  was  con 
scious  of  one  other  thing  only :  that  she 
understood  Clive  better  than  she  had  ever 
done  before,  and  that  her  sympathy  was  as 
strong  for  him  as  for  herself. 

Suddenly  she  sprang  to  her  feet  and  faced 
the  point  of  the  fern-wood  where  she  had 
made  entrance.  The  tears  dried  under  the 
rush  of  blood. 


176     A    WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

"  Owin  !  "  she  cried.     "  Owin  !  " 

She  strained  her  head  forward,  then  drew 
back  slowly.  There  was  not  a  sound  in  the 
forest.  Her  lips  fell  apart.  "Owin!"  she 
gasped.  She  shook  from  head  to  foot.  He 
had  a  quick,  strong  step.  She  heard  it  now 
with  a  sub-consciousness  of  which  she  had 
never  been  cognizant  before.  But  it  made 
no  sound  in  her  ears. 

Then  she  sank  back  against  the  ferns, 
bending  them  with  her  weight,  closing  her 
eyes.  The  spiritual  part  within  her  seemed 
to  become  clearly  defined.  Something 
touched  and  passed  it.  There  was  a  mo 
ment  of  promise,  rather  than  of  ecstasy,  then 
of  peace. 

She  opened  her  eyes.  "  Owin,"  she  whis 
pered.  But  she  was  alone. 

She  went  out  of  the  ferns  and  mounted 
her  horse,  and  rode  rapidly  homeward.  As 
she  turned  the  corner  of  Casa  Norte  she 
heard  the  telephone  bell  ring  violently.  A 


A    WHIRL    ASUNDER.     177 

groom  met  her  and  lifted  her  from  the 
horse.  She  walked  down  the  garden  to 
ward  the  door.  Her  aunt  entered  the  office. 
Helena  paused  outside  of  the  window  to 
listen  to  the  ridiculous  one-sided  conversa 
tion  of  the  telephone. 

"Helloo? 

"  Speak  louder,  please. 

"  A  what  ? 

"  Oh— how  dreadful ! 

"  What  ?  The  trestle  ?  Are  you  sure  ? 
How  awful !  How  high  is  it  ? 

"  Three  hundred  feet !  Great  heavens  ! 
Were  any  lives  lost? 

"  Everybody  ?  Oh,  impossible — but  of 
course — three  hundred  feet. 

"  Only  a  few  passengers — well  that  is 
something. 

"  The  cars  are  on  fire,  you  say.  Oh, 
merciful  heaven ! 

"  Oh,  I  am  glad.  That  is  one  blessing, 
at  least.  Of  course  they  were  killed  in 
stantly  on  those  rocks. 


1 78     A   WHIRL    ASUNDER. 

"Who?  What?  My  God!  No!  No! 
Why,  he  was  here  only  this  morning.  It's 
impossible  !  Impossible ! 

Oh !  " 

Mrs,  Cartright  staggered  to  her  feet,  her 
face  appearing  before  the  open  window. 
Her  jaw  was  fallen,  her  skin  the  color  of 
dough.  She  saw  Helena. 

"Oh!"  she  gasped.  "What— what  do 
you  think  has  happened  ? " 

"What?" 

"  The  train  went  over  the  trestle  by  Jo 
Bagley's — three  hundred  feet — burned  up. 
And  Mr.  Clive  — isn't  it  awful  that  I  should 
have  spoken  to  him  not  three  hours  ago  ? — 
was  on  it.  Jo  Bagley  says  he  spoke  to  him 
when  the  train  stopped.  Oh,  Helena  Bel- 
mont,  how  can  you  look  so  indifferent  ! " 

Helena  turned  and  went  back  into  the 
forest. 

THE  END 


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